


Home

by fallrightintou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Anger, Best Friends, Boredom, Bottom Harry Styles, Bottom Zayn Malik, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm really bad at updating, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mutual Pining, OT5 Friendship (One Direction), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Switching, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Top Harry Styles, Top Zayn Malik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:34:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallrightintou/pseuds/fallrightintou
Summary: "You did! I just couldn't do that. It would have broken my heart to see you all hurt. It was easier to let you all hate me rather than break you.""Either way, you broke us." Zayn finally spoke up. "Everything we were supposed to do together, we didn't have you there.."Because see in this small town, everything you do, it gets noticed. Everything you do or say, it's the town gossip in seconds. So when he left, it broke them all. But for Zayn, it was more because he was in love. He wanted to him to be his first everything, first kiss, first boyfriend, first real love. He just never thought he'd be his first heart break too.But through it all, all Zayn wants is for him to love Zayn back. Because Harry fucking Styles is just that intoxicating for Zayn and he'll fall, every single time.
Relationships: Liam Payne/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Hailee Steinfeld, Zayn Malik/Harry Styles
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers: To start off, this is obviously a work of fiction, yes I used the names and physical descriptions of real people but this story is in no way true. I don't know or own any of the characters present in this work. I only own the plot and any eventual original character.
> 
> This story is loosely based on some ideas from the show "One Tree Hill" however, none of the plot is taken from the show itself. If there is any resemblance, it is entirely coincidental. The idea of the cafe (and by association,the roof of the cafe) and a small town friend group also the state in which this story takes place in are the only thing intentionally taken from the show. 
> 
> And lastly, any mentions of real people in this story were used to make a point in my plot. I depicted them the way that would work for the story. I'm sorry if I offend anyone with the way I write some characters and that was not my intention. Obviously things are changed, a lot. In this story, all characters are the same age. They have the same birthdays as they do in real life, just different birth years, which are technically unimportant. Know that they are 21, turning 22 though. Also, Jay (Louis's mom) is alive and still married to Mark as well as Robin (Harry's step dad) is also alive.

"Zayn Javaad! You're going to be late for your shift!" Tricia yelled down the hallway. 

"You're literally the owner." Zayn groaned from in front of his full length mirror. 

"Yes, but it's you and Liam this morning and he lost his key, remember? You have to open." She raised an eyebrow at him when she stopped in the doorway of his room. "You look fine. Please go now? The new coffee machine should be getting dropped off within the hour." She pleaded anxiously. 

He nodded and patted his pockets to make sure he had his phone, keys, and wallet before kissing his mom on the cheek, stepped around her and walked out the door. He could see the sun peeking out from behind some clouds and decided he would walk instead of taking his car. As he walked, he listed off the things he needed to do once he got to the cafe in his head and once he was done with that, he made a list of things he needed to do once his shift ended. 

Turning the corner onto Center Street, he could see Liam's form sitting on the steps leading up to the cafe that his mom bought when Zayn's younger sister, Waliyha, was born. He had his phone in his hand and was typing quickly. 

"Hey Li! Catch!" Zayn shouted at him when he was some feet away, throwing his keys into the air. Liam caught them with no problem and stood, dropping his phone into the pocket of his jacket. 

"You realize we're supposed to open in like thirty minutes right? And have nothing like, set up?" Liam asked as he unlocked the door and pushed in. Zayn followed right behind and flipped the switches next to the door, illuminating the inside with lights. 

"Yes Liam, funnily enough, I do know that. It's my mom's place."

"Just wanted to make sure." Liam teased and opened the register, doing the first count and making sure all the money was counted for. Zayn slipped behind the counter and worked beside his best friend making sure the lone coffee maker was turned on. 

"We really need a new second machine, mate. It's been almost a month since the other one broke." Liam muttered in between his breathless counting. 

"It's supposed to be here this morning. Mom said it should be here within the hour." Zayn assured him and went into the kitchen. He could hear Liam moving around out front, making sure to wipe down counters and clean everything. He opened the fridge, getting out the premade desserts that Louis made the night before when he and Niall closed.

"Your boyfriend's getting more creative!" He called out to Liam. He closed the fridge and turned on the oven, getting it preheated for the day. 

"Oh yea? What did he do this time??" Liam laughed as he walked into the kitchen. 

Zayn pushed the pies across the counter and laughed. "He actually made that strawberry cream cheese pie he's been going on about." He shook his head. 

"Oi oi!" They heard from the front. 

"Speak of the devil." Zayn rolled his eyes as Liam's smile took over his face and he ran out to the front. Zayn followed soon after, holding the pies in his hands. He put them in the insulated cooler under the counter, to make sure they stayed fresh through the day. "Don't worry, I got the pies put away. I'll also go get the door and open the curtains and accept the machine being delivered." Zayn said as his two best friends smiled at each other like idiots and shared the occasional kiss. Zayn did exactly as he said he was going to and signed for the delivery, setting the box on the counter. He also flipped the sign from "CLOSED" to "OPEN" and slid the curtains to the side above the bay windows that sat at the sides of the small cafe. 

"Why are you even here? You didn't get enough of it last night?" Zayn teased and sat the counter, next to Louis. 

"I could never get enough of this place, Malik." Louis said fondly. And Zayn knew it was true. All of them loved this place. Being from a small town of maybe 2,000 people, it was easy to stay in small groups and that was made easy for them because of their moms. So when Tricia had bought this place when the boys were five, it just became a hang out place as they grew up. Everyday after school, they'd come and sit and play, mainly because their moms all had work but since it was Tricia's work, it all just worked. All four of them started working there when they were sixteen. It was easier than finding somewhere else and it eliminated Tricia's need for employee's. 

"But anyways, more than that, your mom told me I needed to be here this morning. I figured one of you needed the morning off?" Louis asked rather than stated. 

"Um, not me. Li?" 

"Would I be here if it was me?" Liam asked, looking at Zayn as though he grew a second head. Zayn shrugged as the bell rang above the door just as his phone vibrated in his jeans. 

"Welcome to Mama's!" He said, distracted by the text on his screen. 

"It's just me, you nitwit." Niall said and rubbed at his eyes. 

"Let me guess. Zayn's mom told you that you needed to be here this morning?" Louis sighed and leaned back against the counter. 

"Yea. Now which one of you fuckers need to switch shifts?" Niall asked sleepily.

"None. But we are apparently closed until this afternoon." Zayn said sliding his phone into Liam's palm. He stood up and flipped the sign. Louis read over Liam's shoulder. 

"We're not opening until later in the day. Turn everything on but don't flip the sign. Louis and Niall should hopefully be there by now. Be good." He read out from Zayn's screen. 

"Oh god. What did you do? Did you piss off your mom? We're all getting fired. I bet this is about last weekend when we stayed here until like three a.m. drinking." Liam rushed through his words, barely taking a breath. 

"Babe. Stop. I'm sure we're not all getting fired at the same time. What would Tricia do without us?"

"Plus, we're not seventeen anymore. We're all of age." Niall pointed out. 

"So what are we all here for?" 

Just then the bell rung out again. 

"Sorry, we're closed. We'll be open later." Zayn sighed and moved around the counter. Silence followed and Zayn looked up, noticing Louis first, who suddenly tensed against the counter and Liam just kind of sat in stunned silence, his eyes watching the newcomer with mixed emotions. Niall was the one who spoke first. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked incredulously. 

Zayn finally stopped staring at his best friends and noticed the guy who came in. His hair was longer now, ending just below his shoulders and his style had changed, that's for sure. His shirt was unbuttoned for the most part, only the last three were done up and his pants looked like they could be cutting off his circulation. But his face was still the same one Zayn loved for all those years. 

"Hi, Harry." Zayn said before he could stop himself. 

"That's all you're going to say to me after six years?" 

"You mean after you fucked off when we were sixteen and didn't even say goodbye?" Louis damn near yelled. 

"I guess I deserve that." Harry sighed and scratched at his elbow. 

"You guess?!" Louis jumped out of his seat. "We deserved at least a god damn goodbye or a number to call you at or maybe just an address that we could have sent our angry letters to! But all we got was your mom having to drive to the school before classes started and pulling us all into her car and telling us all you left the fucking country to go live with your dad!" It took all four of them by surprise, Louis yelling. They got used to it over the years, the way Louis' natural voice was louder than necessary because in a house with four younger sisters you kind of had to be that way. But this was angry yelling and Louis rarely got this way. Six years of built up anger did that, apparently. Liam grabbed Louis arm and pulled him back, away from Harry's slightly shaking form. 

"I know! And I'm sorry. I was scared that you'd all hate me. It was easier to just have my mom tell you I already left. I wouldn't be able to explain it and have you understand."

"So explain it now." Niall simply said from where he sat at one of the tables. He had been sitting patiently, letting Louis yell. Zayn simply stood behind the counter trying to slow his breathing. 

"This town, it was suffocating at sixteen. I hated that everything I did, everyone already knew. I hated that I went to school with the same people every single year and never met new people. I hated that anything we did suddenly was the town gossip." He said slowly, calculating each word carefully. 

"Okay fine, we get that part of it, Haz." Liam sighed, the nickname that Niall came up with proudly when then were ten, slipping out with no effort. "But that doesn't forgive the fact we got zero goodbye, we didn't even know what country you were in for at least a year. Sixteen years of friendship and we didn't deserve that?" He said rubbing a slow hand across Louis back. 

"You did! I just couldn't do that. It would have broken my heart to see you all hurt. It was easier to let you all hate me rather than break you."

"Either way, you broke us." Zayn finally spoke up. "Everything we were supposed to do together, we didn't have you there. You weren't here when Niall and Louis broke into the school at four a.m. our senior year and called Liam and me to come pick them up because they were too drunk to drive. You weren't here when Liam and Louis finally admitted their feelings for each other after years of pining. You weren't here when Barbara Palvin broke up with Niall junior year and we stayed up literally all night in his basement in absolute silence while he cried." Zayn voice broke. He had more to say but from the look on Harry's face, he knew if he said anymore, Harry would break and as much as Zayn hurt, he couldn't make Harry feel that. 

"We get that you're sorry, and I'm sorry if we had anything to do with the way you felt. I think we just need a chance to process that we're seeing you for the first time in six years." Niall said, ever the voice of reason. 

"Yea, no I get that. I'm, uh, I'm moving in with my mom so I am back. I'm not leaving. I want us to be us again. You're still my best friends. I want to be yours again." Harry said slowly. He gave them a small smile and turned around, his lanky frame slipping out the door and shutting it with ease. Liam got up and locked the door behind him. They all sat in silence, unsure of what they were feeling. Zayn, for one, didn't know if he could do it, let Harry back in after years of forcing his feelings away. He felt Louis eyes trained on him and he excused himself and walked slowly to the kitchen. 

Not even thirty seconds later, Louis was there, holding him up as Zayn's knees buckled and he sobbed into his hand. 

••• 

"I still hate him." Louis said, nudged between Zayn's right side and Liam's left

"No, you don't." Niall said from Zayn's left side. 

After Zayn stopped crying, Liam and Niall made their way into the kitchen, sitting in their spots on the floor. It was a normal occurrence. If one or all of the boys was feeling particularly upset, or angry or just sad, they would meet in the kitchen at Mama's and talk or drink or do nothing at all. They had their spots, they never deviated. Except when Harry left. Niall had scooted closer to Zayn at that point 

"No, I don't, but I should." Louis grumbled. 

"We all should but we can't. And we should accept that. Forgiving is an entirely different thing though." Liam said staring at his knees. 

"How can I forgive him..?" Zayn whispered. "It's only been a couple of years since I finally got over him.." 

Niall wrapped an arm around Zayn's shoulders and pulled him in tighter until his head finally landed on Niall's shoulder. "I think what we need to do is sit down with him properly, and talk. Not yell, not make anyone feel worse." Niall pouted. 

"Fine. But I can't do it today. It's already been too much and we need to open the cafe. It's already 9:30. We were supposed to open an hour and a half ago." Liam said and stood up. 

The other three muttered their agreement. Louis and Niall decided they would head home really quick to change clothes and come back until their shift at four, not really wanting to be alone the rest of the day. Zayn and Liam quickly got the place looking good again and finally flipped the sign and propped the door open to invite people in. Mrs. Norris was the first in to get her usual morning coffee with pie and also hear any gossip the boys had. 

"Good morning Mrs. Norris!" Liam chirped and started getting the coffee and pie together for her. 

"Morning m'boy. You sure opened late today. I've been sat at the park for ages now waiting for the sign to flip around." She huffed, feigning impatience but when Zayn shot her his most endearing smile, she immediately settled and laughed. "But I'd wait any day to see my two favorite boys."

"Don't let Louis or Niall hear you. I think they'd both start crying or somethin." Liam laughed and passed her the usual order. As the three of them started talking, people kept steadily coming through the door, ordering mostly coffee and breakfast sandwiches or the occasional cup of tea with pancakes or waffles, effectively keeping Zayn in the back and keeping his mind busy. 

Louis and Niall made their way back at around noon, and immediately jumped in to help during the lunch rush that filled every table, booth, couch and counter seat with people. Louis joined Zayn in the kitchen because neither of them trusted Liam or Niall back there. 

They kept up with the flow of orders easily, working seamlessly around each other. Out front they could hear the streams of conversation, and watched as it all slowly died out. It was actually kind of incredible to watch from an outsiders perspective, the way the orders pile on top of each other and slowly shrunk over the course of a few hours.

When things calmed down, all four were able to sit in their corner booth, still able to see the door easily if a customer came in. They stayed mostly silent, minus Niall, talking about whatever date he had planned for Hailee the next night he had off. They weren't consciously avoiding the subject, but it just happened that way.

When four o'clock rolled around, just as Liam and Zayn were getting ready to leave to go change and wait for Niall and Louis to close up, Tricia and Safaa walked in. 

"All four of you, out. I know today was not what you had planned. You're all in need of a night together." Tricia announced, stepping behind the counter. Safaa kicked at Louis' thigh when he tried to argue that he was okay working. 

"Ow squirt! Fine, we're leaving!" He said as they all rushed out the door and walked, wordlessly, down the street and heading in the direction of the lake, where they stayed for hours, talking and laughing, well into the dark. 

••• 

"You didn't change it." Harry said from the doorway to the roof, exactly one week later. Unused to his voice, the sound startled Zayn and made him jump, as well as Niall, Liam, and Louis. "I thought for sure you'd at least take down the lights I insisted on." He laughed. 

"We got used to it eventually. Zayn said they were good for reading at night." Liam sighed, looking at the lights Harry was referring to. They had argued for hours about the long strings of lights that Harry wanted for their hangout spot on the roof of Mama's. They finally relented when Harry pushed out his bottom lip and pouted until Zayn finally decided to join his side of the argument. At that point the other three decided it wasn't worth the fight. 

"You were the first one to side with me." Harry laughed, one dimple brightening his face. Zayn simply shrugged and tilted his head to the side, silently telling Harry to come over. Harry nodded, biting the inside of his cheek nervously. 

"So is this the part where you tell me you all talked about it and you've decided you still hate me.?" Harry asked, twisting his fingers together. A week without hearing from the boys was worse than the last six years in a different country. 

The four boys looked at each other and nodded for Niall to talk, considering he was the one that was most likely to keep his voice level. 

"We don't hate you Harry. We don't think we ever did or could," He started, making Harry's head snap up, "we've been so angry though. In fifth grade we swore we wouldn't ever leave each other. I took it to mean, even if we did decide to move away from Willow Grove and live states or in your case, continents, apart, we would all still be there. A text, a phone call, a long road trip or plane ride away. I don't know how you all meant it, but that's what I meant. But, beside the point, we don't hate you. You're still our best friend. There's always been five of us, not four. We want to work on it, honestly. It's just going to take a bit to work on."

Harry nodded eagerly. This was more than he could have ever asked for. They don't hate him! "Of course! I want to work! We should.. Play a game, you know, to catch up."

"I vote for truth or truth and play it as a drinking game." Louis suggested. They all agreed and Zayn ran downstairs to grab whatever liquor they had in the freezer, which happened to be the almost full bottle of vodka he had stashed there last weekend. He also grabbed some cups and ran back upstairs sitting back in his chair. Liam took it upon himself to pour out the drinks and handed them off. 

"Now, who wants to start?" Liam asked looking around. 

"I'll go since I'm the one that left. When did you guys realize you were head over heels for each other?" Harry directed towards Liam and Louis and took a sip of his drink. 

"We were not head over heels!" Liam and Louis shouted at the same time from where they had curled up on the lone loveseat under a blanket.

"Oh please. Niall and I had a bet going since we were 13 about just how long it would take you guys to say it, so depending on your answer I might get 20 dollars." Harry snorted. 

"Nope. We technically both lost." Niall shrugged. 

"ANYWAYS. To answer your question, we were high and at the dock on Pearson's Lake in senior year. We were about a week away from graduation and Louis had the chance to go to Cornell University up in New York.." Liam trailed off, unsure if Louis wanted him to say more. 

"Then my mom got sick. She's better now, but things got rocky at the end so I declined the offer and went to the community college in Wilmington. Got my license to teach." Louis filled in. 

"Right that. So we were at Pearson's and got high and Louis suddenly jumped in the lake, keep in mind it was like two am so the water was pretty cold, and I kind of let it slip." 

"Nuh huh. Tell him exactly what you said. He's the one that got the saying stuck in your mind." Zayn smirked into his cup. 

Liam rolled his eyes. "I told him I couldn't believe I was in love with an idiot. And he kind of floated there staring at me and pulled me in and told me he was glad he was in love with someone that knew he was an idiot." He said fondly, glancing at Louis at his side, who was smiling just as fondly, before turning back to Harry and expected the normal aww that they get when they tell the story. 

But instead, he got, "You both let them go all the way until the end of senior year, knowing damn well they were in love?!?" He shouted at the two silent ones. 

"We tried! They wouldn't admit anything past 'oh yea, he's my best friend'!" Zayn shouted back and gestured for Niall to back him up. Niall nodded quickly, biting back a laugh. 

"Oh whatever. Someone ask me a question." Harry huffed. 

"Were we part of the reason you left?" Louis asked, the question having weighed on their minds for a week now. 

"No!" Harry said without hesitation. "It was everyone's expectations of us. We couldn't do anything without some one watching. Everything was everyone's business. Like that time when we were twelve and you and Zayn broke into the old Satterfield place and Mr. Watson demanded you had to go by and clean the place everyday for a week. The place was abandoned! And your parents had to agree because everyone suddenly agreed with Mr. Watson. They couldn't even properly punish you without them adding their two cents. We had to be good all the time because if we weren't, we'd never hear the end of it." He rambled on not caring if they noticed every word. 

"I forgot about that. They tore down the Satterfield place a couple of years ago because no one would buy it." Zayn muttered, staring at his drink. "And Mr. Watson was the angriest about it all. He swore up and down he was planning on buying it. His kids finally put him in a nursing home in Raleigh."

"My mom told me when they tore it down."

They sat in silence not quite awkward but definitely not comfortable. 

"Ask another question please, Haz." Niall pleaded. 

"Right. So, you and Barbara huh? How did that happen? I never thought she'd be your type."

Niall laughed. "Yea, no, definitely not. I asked her out like beginning of junior year because I was sick of being single and Barbara was kind of there. It lasted a while though. About eight months. We started talking about applying to the same colleges. But then she cheated and said the two of us were never meant to get as serious as we did.." Niall said and downed the last of his drink. "But all's good because I'm with Hailee now and have been for, what, a year and a half now boys?" He smiled. 

"Wait, wait. Like seventh grade crush Hailee?" Harry asked, leaning forward eagerly. 

"The one and only. She came into the cafe one night to study in the corner and just kept asking for coffee so I sat down with the pot of coffee and teased her for awhile to distract her and calm her down because she was getting frustrated and she asked what it would take for me to go away so I took the chance and asked her out."

Harry couldn't help but smile. 

"Alright, so what about you any pretty girls out there in Australia for you?"

"Um, not really. There was one. Her name was Kendall. She's nice and pretty but things just didn't work. But we're still friends. We still talk every few days. She's from California actually. And then there was this guy. His name was Brody. Extremely attractive, but he was actually a pretty horrible person. Not abusive or anything like that, just like mean, to people in general. Yelled at waiters or fast food workers. Didn't really have any regard for people." He said casually as if he didn't just drop a bomb that had Zayn's jaw going slack. He hadn't known Harry could.. Could have been into him too. Did he know while he still lived here? Did he feel that way about Zayn? Did he only figure it out in another continent? 

"So you're...?" Louis asked carefully, watching Harry, but keeping Zayn in his peripheral. 

"Undefined. Love is love." Harry smiled, both dimples finding their way to his face. 

They all nodded and smiled. 

"Alright so what about you Z? How are the girls? How are you? I know how your parents are for the most part. Your parents all kept my mom up to date on most things and went to lunch and things even after I left obviously." Harry rambled. Of course all of them knew their moms had been best friends since they were teenagers, having grown up in the same small town. 

"Um, I'm good. I ended up not heading to college like I planned, just didn't seem like it was for me. Maybe I'll go in a couple of years, get a business degree or some shit but." He shrugged. "The girls are good though. Doni and Wali started some beauty salon on the other side of town, I go over there if I'm making a food run to bring them lunch or something. Saf works sometimes at the cafe. She's a typical teenager, gives Louis the most shit though." He smirked. "I think she could give you a run for your money though, Haz, when it comes to scrabble. She's like a walking dictionary."

Harry simply hummed and looked like he was already planning a way to sneak around Zayn's house in order to play a game with Saf. 

"Come around tomorrow night. It's the weekend. She honestly hates having two days of no school. It'll make her feel better." Zayn suggested. Harry beamed at him and set his cup down. 

They once again sat in silence but this one was definitely more comfortable. That could be attributed to the alcohol burning their throats but it was more that they were falling into an easy rhythm. Which of course, Zayn just had to go and ruin. 

"Did you miss us?" He mumbled. 

"Every day. I knew it was stupid about a week into living there. I knew absolutely nobody, I was the weirdo with the stupid accent, my dad had no idea how to help, I missed my mom, and I didn't have you guys. But I couldn't just come back. I was enrolled in school, and neither of my parents had the money to send me back. And by the time they did, I had fallen into a routine. And I found myself hating it less. But not a day went by where I didn't wish you were right next to me experiencing it with me." He whispered into the silence. The words settled around them and for whatever reason it relaxed them, to know that he missed them as much as they missed him. 

"Did you miss me? Like in between the anger?"

"Absolutely. Everything we did, all of our little traditions, we'd stop and just stare at the place where you would be. Eventually we changed up things but the changes didn't go unnoticed." Louis replied, letting his hands tap on Liam's thigh, his eyes focusing on the table in front of him. 

"Honestly though. Can we do this? Be real friends again?" 

"You can't expect it to happen in one night, Haz. But give it sometime. We did this for the first sixteen years. Six years will mean nothing in no time." Niall nodded with a sense of finality. 

••• 

"Oh come on! That's not fair! She's my girlfriend!" Niall yelled as he continued to get pelted by marshmallows by the four boys and now Hailee, who had joined them atop the roof not even five minutes earlier. 

"Too bad! She likes us better!" Louis yelled from behind the couch that him and Harry were using as a shield. 

Zayn laughed even as he was hit by a skillfully aimed marshmallow from Harry. "Oi! This is supposed to be 'hit the Niall' not 'hit whoever you can'!" Harry simply shrugged and put his hands up. 

"I surrender! I want my drink." He said and plopped onto the yellow chair that he had always gravitated to. Liam put his hands up as well and watched his boyfriend suspiciously as he walked to their couch and sat down. He grabbed Louis by the wrist and pulled him over the back, settling him against Liam's chest. 

"You two gonna surrender?" Niall asked Hailee and Zayn, face still red from laughing. Zayn agreed easily enough and sat on the green chair opposite Harry, reaching for a drink followed by Niall, who now had a smiling Hailee on his lap. 

"We're going to have to invest in another couch aren't we?" Zayn laughed and tucked a leg under him. 

Niall let his lips spread into a smile and nodded eagerly. "Yea please." He said and turned his attention onto Harry. "How's the apartment hunting going, Haz?"

"Fine, now that I have a job." He replied simply, not exactly lying. Louis HAD talked his mom into giving him a job at the community center, helping tutor the teenagers when they needed it. He also did music classes or crafts with the younger ones when their parents needed someone to watch them last minute. 

"But..?" Liam asked. 

"I hate the idea of living alone. I hate being alone."

"It's been two months Haz. Your mom and Robin would probably like some time alone." Zayn laughed. 

"You still live at home with your parents!" Harry pouted at him. Zayn couldn't really argue, so he let his mouth snap shut. Harry did have a point.

"I mean, yes, you're not wrong." Zayn replied and watched the other three boys out of the corners of his eyes as he said to Harry, as casually as possible, "I'll move in with you somewhere." 

As expected, Louis and Liam's eyes shot up and stared at Zayn with their jaws dropped and Niall just watched the two of them, waiting for Harry's reaction. 

"Wait what? That's-that's not what I was meaning! You don't have to! I know you like being able to help with the girls and your mom when your dad has to go out of town and-" 

Zayn cut him off quickly with a shrug. "Maybe it's time to. Besides, no matter where we get a place, it'll be maybe a twenty minute walk to my parent's, ten if I drive." 

"Are you.. You sure? I promise I'm a good roommate!" 

"That's such a lie and you know it. When you stayed with me for a summer when your mom and Gem took that trip for Gemma's graduation, you never cleaned your side of the room!" Louis groaned. 

"Okay fine, I'm not great at cleaning my room, but communal spaces I'm great at!"

Zayn just nodded and smiled. "Then let's do it. I'll start packing tomorrow."

A week later, Zayn found himself standing in the kitchen of his and Harry's new apartment, only one floor below Liam and Louis's own, having put down the first, last, and a security deposit just that morning. 

"So. What to do first??" Harry asked with a mischievous glint to his eyes. 

"Liam said to come grab them when we got the keys and we'll all go grab Niall and Hailee to start moving things in."

"Perfect. Let's go roomie!" Harry said and linked his arm around Zayn's and skipped out their door and made his way up the stairs. Zayn rolled his eyes but kept up with Harry, not skipping but still bouncing slightly. They made it to their friends door and walked in, not bothering to knock. 

"Hope you both are decent!" Zayn called out and shut the door behind him. 

"Kitchen!" Liam called out from his perch on the counter while Louis washed dishes. 

"Aww, don't you both look very domestic." Harry cooed and went to help Louis by drying the dishes he had just washed and rinsed. 

"Oh shut up. Did you get the keys?" 

Zayn dangled his keys ring in Liam's face and jumped up next to him. He saw Liam dig his phone out of his pocket, typing something and slipped it discreetly into Zayn's hand. 

_"Are you sure this is a good idea? Don't want any.. feelings to come back."_ Was typed into Liam's notes app. 

Zayn nodded slowly and typed back. _"I'm good. It'll be nice. I'm just glad he's back and things are back to how they were before for all of us."_

As it got slipped back into Liam's palm, Louis turned and tucked himself between Liam's legs. "Telling secrets Payno?" 

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Liam's teased back and kissed his cheek. "Now let's go! We've got moving to do. Niall and Hailee are waiting." He said and jumped down. Louis jumped onto his back and demanded he give him a piggy back ride. 

"So bossy!" Liam laughed with a roll of his eyes, but tightened his hold on Louis's thighs. Harry let out a small whine from behind them as they made their way to the front door, stepping out and Liam locked it before turning and headed down the stairs, still holding Louis' thighs tight to his hips. 

"You want a piggy back ride now, don't you?" Zayn groaned, knowing almost everyone of Harry's sounds. Harry beamed and nodded. 

"Alright, baby Tarzan. Once we get down the stairs. If I try to now, your long limbs are going to make me trip." Zayn explained with a laugh. Harry pouted but agreed easily, knowing Zayn had a good point. He wasn't much taller, but he definitely had a few inches on Zayn. 

The sun hit Zayn's face quickly when they got to the entrance of the building. Harry turned on his feet, bouncing slightly, waiting for Zayn. 

All Zayn could do was groan and brace himself for the long legs that were now jumping and wrapping around his waist. He smiled as Harry's hands wrapped loosely around Zayn's neck. "Comfortable?" Zayn teased. 

"Mhm. Onward!" Harry shouted and pointed in the direction of Niall and Hailee's own apartment building, not too far away. Zayn laughed and trudged along, his steps falling in sync with Liam's. The two kept quiet as Harry and Louis chatted above them. By the time they made it to the building, Harry had slumped farther down, letting his head rest against Zayn's, making his hair shake loose out of the top knot it was secured in, and flopped to one side. Niall and Hailee were waiting outside. 

"Alright so what's the game plan?" Niall asked, his hand clasped around Hailee's. Liam dropped Louis from his back but kept him close to his side, while Harry fell from Zayn's, not at all gracefully. 

"I was thinking since Harry's getting the bigger items, like couches and stuff, from his parents, we should start there." Louis shrugged and looked around, watching everyone agree easily. 

"Great, you four want to start walking to Anne's and we'll go back to the apartment and grab Liam's truck?" Zayn asked, pointing at himself and Liam. They all nodded and headed their separate ways for the few minutes it would take to get Liam's truck. 

"Talk." Liam said, halting his movements once the two of them were settled in the seats. As much as Zayn hated to admit, he knew Liam would know something was up once he split the group up. It's something he hated and loved about their closeness. He also knew Louis would make him talk at some point too. 

"I just.. I'm scared Li. I mean, he's Harry. He's here and things are normal and it feels like he never left. What if I start to like him again?" He whispered into the stillness of the vehicle. 

"Then you tell him. It's not something you really have to be afraid of. It's Harry. Even if he doesn't feel something back, do you really think he'd stop being your friend over it? Because I certainly don't. But you can't just bury it again." Liam said, turning to face Zayn head on. Zayn nodded assuredly. 

"Thanks Li. Now let's go get some furniture." Zayn sighed, letting Liam's words settle around him.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur, couches being carried up stairs and Louis yelling at everyone when their hands slipped and he was the only one holding up one side of the couch, and boxes being carried non stop from truck bed to bedrooms. Finally around seven p.m. they called it quits, everyone crashing on different spaces of Zayn and Harry's living room. 

"I'm beat. Please none of us ever move again." Niall said, one arm thrown across his eyes, the other being used as a pillow by Hailee. 

"Not planning on it." Louis grumbled from the couch. 

"I say we deserve a night out. Let's go to a bar." Harry announced. Zayn shot an eyebrow up at him. 

"You want to go to a bar? After an entire day of carrying furniture and boxes up four flights of stairs?"

"I think we've earned it. The only question is, do we want to go out of town or just go down to Kennedy's?" Hailee chimed in, and sat up. 

"If we're actually going to go, I don't feel like having to drive. I say we just stay in town." Liam agreed. 

They all settled on staying in town and for the (technically) second time that day, Harry and Zayn were left alone in their apartment. Everyone decided on meeting at the all ages club that they'd frequented for years at ten o'clock so they had a few hours to kind of settle in and do nothing. They were slouched against the couch, Harry's head leaning against Zayn's shoulder. 

"I forgot how slow moving actually goes." Harry grumbled. His hair was matted against his forehead and his open shirt revealed his chest, which had spots of sweat. 

"You look like a mess Haz. Go shower, I'll make food so we don't drink on empty stomachs." Zayn laughed and patted Harry's thigh. 

"But I've missed Paul's sliders at Kennedy's! Wait, he is still the owner right?" Harry asked, his head shooting up and looked at Zayn with the same puppy dog eyes that caused them to buy the lights for Mama's. 

"Yea he still owns it. Have we not been since you got back?"

"Nope. You four work a lot and with me getting used to being back in town and then the job at the center, we always just end up on the roof drinking and talking." Harry shrugged. 

"Oh yea, I guess so. Either way he still owns it and mainly works weekends. He got married, um, last year I guess. Offered to have Liam run the bar. He turned it down though. Said he didn't like all that responsibility." Zayn rolled his eyes. 

"Sure he doesn't. Wasn't he the one that insisted we all had to go to summer camp because we couldn't just sit around for three months and do nothing?" Harry laughed and made his way to his bedroom to gather clothes to go shower. Zayn barked out a laugh and walked to the kitchen. He knew they didn't have much, but enough to throw something together. 

Finally, he decided on just scrambling some eggs, sausage and potatoes together, which finished just as Harry stepped out of the bathroom, his jeans looking painted on. The plain black shirt that he wore allowed the ink on his arms to show and made Zayn wonder what each of them meant. 

"Ooo! You made scramble!" Harry's squeal brought Zayn from his thoughts. 

"Huh? Oh yea. Figured it would be easy enough that we could still eat later. I'm gonna go get in the shower too." He said and trudged to his room. Most of his clothes were still in boxes and after rummaging for a few minutes, he finally found the gray Henley that suited him well, as long as a pair of jeans that ripped at his knees. He was going to have a good time tonight and not think about the fact he at one point liked his best friend and probably still did, if he was being completely honest with himself. 

••• 

The music surrounding them made Zayn's stomach rumble and his heart seemed to thump along with it. Harry tugged on the fabric of his shirt, leading him to a table that was occupied by the rest of their friends. 

"Geez took you guys long enough!" Louis shouted to them. 

"Blame Zayn's hair! He was swearing at it for at least an hour." Harry grumbled and took his seat next to Liam. 

"Do not act like you weren't standing in front of the same mirror at the same time trying to get your curls just right!" Zayn retaliated, his eyes staring at Harry, daring him to deny it. The staring contest lasted for a few seconds before they fell into a fit of laughter and Harry stuck his tongue out at Zayn. 

"So it's true! You came back and didn't even think to come say hi to me for two whole months!" A deep voice yelled from behind them. Zayn turned just in time to see Harry leap from his seat and into Paul's arms. 

"Paul! I thought about it but had no time." Harry laughed. 

"No, no time at all, probably getting into too much trouble with your boys." Paul smirked as Harry took his seat once again. "Anyways, what can I get you guys?" 

They all told the bartender what drinks they wanted and Harry insisted he absolutely needed sliders, so Liam offered to go with Paul and help bring back the drinks. 

"I still say he should have taken Paul's offer to run the bar." Niall shouted across to Louis, but all the brunette could do was shrug and watch as his boyfriend returned with drinks. 

The night progressed easily, with them all getting more and more drunk and finally ended once Niall announced he needed to get Hailee home right that instant because he had a boner. Hailee punched his arm and said a small goodbye to the other four before pushing her boyfriend through the bar to the exit. By this point, Zayn could feel the alcohol burning low in his stomach and he felt like he was floating. Similarly, beside him, Harry was stumbling over his feet and Louis was animatedly telling him a story about something one of his sister said. 

"How done for are you?" Liam asked next to him. 

Zayn hummed for a second, thinking before replying, "Drunk enough that I'd be okay getting up on the stage and actually doing karaoke, but sober enough to know that I'd make an absolute fool of myself and you'd probably video tape all of it." 

Liam laughed and grabbed Louis hand. "Perfect, you won't fall over on the way home then."

As they started to leave, Zayn held Harry's wrist, out of the pure need to make sure he didn't fall, of course. Not at all because he wanted to feel the warmth of Harry. Nope. 

"Where are we going Zaynie?" Harry asked through a laugh as they trudged up the stairs to their new apartment, Louis and Liam a few steps in front. 

"We're going home babe. Come on, just a few more steps." Zayn groaned, significantly more sober now, but still floating at the idea of going home, to the apartment that he shares with Harry, of all people. 

"I like that. Home." Harry whispered. They finally got to their floor and Zayn propped Harry against the wall, waving to Liam and Louis as they ascended the last two flights of stairs to get to their own apartment.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Liam called out before taking the last few steps up their steps. 

"Don't call!" Louis shouted immediately after. 

"Okay. Goodnight!" Zayn yelled back. 

He unlocked their door and pulled Harry through, making sure it was locked again before pushing them through the rest of their apartment. 

"Just how drunk are you really?" Zayn asked skeptically. 

"Enough." Harry pouted. 

"Haz." Zayn raised an eyebrow at him. 

"A seven. Possibly eight." He sighed, using their scale that they came up with when they started drinking at fifteen and needed a place to crash so their moms wouldn't find out. 

"So you've been stumbling for no reason?" Zayn laughed as they finally made it to Harry's room. He fell backwards and crashed onto the bed in a tangle of limbs. 

"I've been stumbling because I'm a klutz which you used to call endearing." A small whine slipped out at the end of Harry's sentence, causing Zayn's smile to only widen. 

"I still find you endearing, Haz.. You're my best friend." Zayn said and tugged Harry's boots from his feet. 

"That's good. Cause you're mine too. Even if I did like you for a really long time. But I got over it, I promise." Harry mumbled and turned onto his side. Zayn's body felt like it was on fire and he felt like he was melting to the spot he was standing in. As he was about to ask Harry for more words, an explanation, something, anything, a small snore came from the bed meaning Harry was done for when it came to words. 

_"We'll just forget that happened, I guess. For now."_ Zayn told himself and that night, he went to sleep more confused then ever, but resolved to thinking it was just the alcohol coursing through Harry that made him admit some long forgotten feelings that were still very real for Zayn. 

He knows that now. 

He's very much in love with his best friend. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayy! A new chapter. Super sorry about the delay. Writer's block and all those fun excuses. 
> 
> Huge thanks to Ray for essentially being my beta reader and continuously telling me it doesn't suck! 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoy!

"Zaynie! Please?!" Harry whined from his spot in front of the stove. 

"Haz, you've been asking me for three weeks if I'll dress up with you. I say no everytime. Why would I say yes this time?" Zayn groaned from his bed where he was busy drawing. It had been a month officially of living with Harry and Zayn didn't think he'd ever want to move out now. Having Harry's constant presence was grounding. It made Zayn feel secure. 

"Because a) you love me, b) I'm currently making dinner, and c) I'll let you pick the costumes! Please. We'll be the only ones not matching. Niall says no one will beat him and Hailee's costume ever again and you know that Louis' dramatic ass is going to make Liam dress up." Harry said as he made his way around the corner and leaned on Zayn's door frame. 

Ugh. "Aren't matching costumes kind of a couple's thing to do?" Zayn asked, trying to find some way out of it. 

"You're my best friend Zayn! And best friends match all the time! You and Liam were Batman and Robin one year and you've never dated him." Harry said, like it was just a fact, and then back tracked. "Wait have you? I actually don't know who you've dated in the last six years."

The one damn question that Zayn kept hoping never got brought up, Harry has to bring up in the middle of a conversation about matching costumes? Come on! 

"Right. Um, no one really. There was Perrie Edwards. She was a grade below us. But she moved in our sophomore year. And then the most recent I've dated was this girl Gigi. She lived here briefly. She's a model and wanted to know small town life. Lasted maybe a month and then she was off to some bigger town. That's basically it." Zayn said biting the inside of his cheek. 

Harry stood still, studying Zayn's face before straightening his back. "No it's not, but you don't want to talk about it." Harry shrugged and turned on his heel towards the kitchen. 

"Wait, what?!" Zayn yelled and jumped off his bed, following behind. 

"You were biting your cheek. You only do that when you have something else to say but don't actually want to say it. You've done it since we were kids." He said nonchalantly. 

"I didn't know any of you noticed it." Zayn grumbled low enough that he hoped Harry wouldn't notice. 

"I don't think the boys do. Or at least they've never talked to me about it. It's not that big of a deal, Z. Just a tick that you have that I noticed." 

But why did he notice? Is that something best friends would notice? He knew Harry talked with his hands and ate bananas from the bottom. He knew he hated silence and that if he got the chance, he liked to cuddle anybody that would allow him that close. If he could notice those things about Harry, maybe Harry could see things about Zayn. 

"Anyways, you don't have to tell me everyone you dated or whatever. I was just curious."

"No it's, it's fine. Um, his name was Jace." Zayn said quietly, "It was like a fling, I guess. Or at least that's what he said when he ended things. He was from Carolina Beach and came to town pretty often for work. He was a truck driver and would drop off our supplies every couple of days. We started hanging out more and started hooking up. It lasted a couple of months and I thought we were at least exclusive, we had never talked about being a couple. Eventually I found out he was fooling around with a lot of people. Said he was having fun and thought I knew that we weren't a thing. I played along and pretended like, yea I knew that. I stopped replying to his texts and made one of the boys sign for deliveries whenever he was the one to drop them off." 

By the time Zayn was done talking, he had pulled himself on the counter and somehow, Harry had situated himself between Zayn's legs, his hands resting on the counter on either side of Zayn's thighs. 

"I'm sorry that that happened. Was he the only, you know, guy that you had been with?" 

"Up to that point, yea. Since, there's been some random hookups." Zayn shrugged. Harry's eyes never moved from Zayn's, making him squirm slightly in his spot on the counter. 

"For what it's worth, he's a dick. You deserve a whole lot more than that Zayn." Harry said, every word dripping with sincerity. 

Zayn couldn't help but blush and look down at his hands. "Thanks Haz. You know you can back up, right?" 

"What if I like it right here?" Harry smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. Zayn stopped to consider his options. On one hand, he had Harry basically where he's wanted him for years. He could easily lean down and kiss him right now. But on the other hand, could he risk that? Risk his best friend and make things awkward. 

With that in mind, he flew his hands to Harry's hip and began tickling him, making Harry back up quickly and he started to swat at Zayn's hands. Zayn jumped from the counter and kept close to Harry, not letting him get away. 

"Z! Stop!" Harry giggled and doubled over, still attempting to hit Zayn's hands. 

"Say please!" 

"P-pl-please!" Harry gasped in between laughing. 

"Well since you asked so very nicely." Zayn smirked and stepped away. 

"Not... Fair.." Harry panted, holding his stomach. 

"Maybe you shouldn't test me. Now! I gotta go find a way to get our costumes with only a week to prepare." Zayn sighed and winked at Harry. 

"I'm going to regret saying you could pick the costumes, aren't I?!" Harry yelled through the apartment. 

"Oh hell yea, you are!" Zayn shouted back, situating himself on his bed and pulled up at least three new tabs on his phone. 

••• 

"I hate you! I really, really hate you!" Harry shouted from down the hallway. 

"You said I could pick the costumes. Maybe you shouldn't give me so much control!" 

"I am not going in public in this!" 

As Zayn started to shout back, there was a loud banging on the door, followed by footsteps, and the door slamming shut. 

"Stop your fucking yelling! It's annoying!" Louis shouted, eyes widening as he focused in on Zayn. "Zaynie! I didn't know you had it in you." He laughed, his eyes roaming the Deadpool suit that covered Zayn's body.

"If Harry would GET OUT HERE, you'd see how we're matching." 

"You put him in a body suit didn't you?!" Louis laughed and crashed on the couch, his slicked back hair moving very little. 

"Yes he did and I can't stand him!" Harry shouted. 

"Oh, Liam's going to be so mad that he didn't think about this." Louis grumbled. 

"What are you supposed to be anyways?" 

"Liam and I couldn't agree on anything and he finally relented and let me pick the T-Birds from Grease. We already had the leather jackets and it's my favorite movie." Louis smiled and tugged at his collar. Zayn stopped to actually look at Louis's outfit. He had cuffed his blue jeans and the white shirt that hung under his jacket looked crisp and barely wrinkled. 

"I like it. Very you."

"Are we ever gonna leave?" Liam asked as he walked through the door, his own jeans uncuffed and his hair just as slicked back, but with a bit more of a quiff than Louis's. 

"Zayn talked Harry into wearing spandex so now he's being a stubborn ass and refusing to leave his room." Louis explained. 

"I CAN HEAR YOU, DUMBASS!" 

"I'll go get him." Zayn sighed. 

Behind him, he could hear Liam grumbling something along the lines of, "they get to be superheroes."

Zayn rounded the corner and saw Harry laying on the bed, on his back, head over the edge. 

"This is what you're doing right now?" Zayn asked and squatted on the balls of his feet in front of Harry's face to look him in the eyes. 

"If you're going to make me go out in a spandex spider suit, I might as well get in the mindset." Harry grumbled and waves his mask around in the air. 

"Alright, come on. Up." Zayn said and pulled on Harry's hands, lifting him as best he could. He positioned them in front of Harry's full length mirror, side by side. Harry's curls were tucked into a low ponytail in order to fit in his mask, and his long limbs pulled at the spandex. 

"You wanna know why I'm making you wear a Spider Man suit?" Zayn asked and tugged lightly on his own sleeve. 

"You hate me? Want me to suffer? Want people to stare at me all night?" Harry remarked. 

"Because I'm in a Deadpool suit. And they're an unlikely pair, and yet for whatever reason, it makes sense that they'd be friends. Like us. It makes sense that you're my best friend. Not to mention I have an unhealthy obsession with comic book characters." Zayn shrugged, trying to sound casual. 

Harry stopped his tugging and turned to Zayn, eyes questioning. Zayn just shrugged. 

"I'm glad you're my best friend Z." Harry heaved a long sigh and flung his mask around. "Alright, let's go then." 

Zayn smiled and walked out of Harry's room, stopping short at the kitchen counter and grabbed his mask. 

Louis looked up from his phone, immediately chuckling. "Best. Day. Ever. Harry Styles in spandex. Gotta say, kinda hot." Louis wolf whistled as Liam hit him on the arm. 

"Boyfriend sitting right here!" 

"Oh come on, Li! No one can resist this face." Zayn said, grabbing Harry's chin. Harry swatted him away. 

"Can we go please? I'd like alcohol now." Harry grumbled. The other three rolled their eyes and walked out, Zayn ending the line, locking the door behind them. 

The walk went by quickly with Harry talking about some kids at the community center. By the time they got to Kennedy's, it seemed the whole town was there, given that it is an all ages club on specific nights, Halloween being one of them. The line flowed out the doors and didn't stop until the boys were standing at the corner of the two story building. 

"Is Niall already here?" Liam asked as he pulled Louis to him, trying to keep them both warm. 

"Yea, said him and Hailee are already three shots in each." Harry laughed from his spot next to the wall. Both him and Zayn hadn't put on their masks just yet, not wanting to be sweaty already. 

"Typical. They could have at least waited for us." Louis snorted. 

"Niall? Wait for alcohol? Yea, okay." Zayn chuckled and shivered through his body. Harry must have noticed and grabbed him by the elbow, effectively pulling him closer until his back was leaning on Harry's chest. 

"We wouldn't be cold if you had put us in something other than spandex." Harry scolded lightly as his hands wrapped lazily around Zayn's shoulders. 

"All four of us wouldn't be cold if you had just come out of your room earlier and not been a little bitch. We'd be inside already, three shots in with Niall and Hailee." Louis directed a small glare at Harry. All Harry could do though was shrug and stick his tongue out. 

Liam pinched his boyfriend's side gently and stared at where Zayn's hands rested atop Harry's own. Zayn pointedly ignored the two of them and instead focused on the concrete below his feet. 

He could feel the way Harry's fingers brushed across Zayn's collar bone occasionally, and continued to stare at the concrete, unsure of what he could say, if he made the choice. Soon, Louis's grumbling came to a halt as they got to the door and showed ID's to Paddy, the bouncer, even though he knew exactly how old they were.

In front of them, the bar was lit up with purple, orange and white lights, cobwebs and other Halloween decorations everywhere. The crowd on the first floor, which was where the over 21's usually hung around, was surprisingly low, easily only about fifty people. The music rang loud throughout, a song by Sam Smith getting butchered on the second floor. 

They found Hailee first, sitting on a bar stool, her hair swept to the side in waves, her green skirt, now with leaves hanging off of it. Her red shirt stopped just above her belly button. 

"Hailee!" Harry exclaimed and ran to her happily. Hailee's head snapped up and she smiled. 

"Finally! You're here. Can one of you please go get Niall?? He's on his third song upstairs." 

"He's the one butchering Sam Smith?!" Harry's eyes widened and he grabbed Hailee by the hand, pulling towards the stairs heading up.

As soon as they were alone, Louis and Liam crowded Zayn's sides. 

"What was that outside?" Liam asked hurriedly. 

"Don't know what you mean." Zayn muttered and waved the bartender over. He quickly ordered four shots, handing one to each of them and pushed the fourth to the side, waiting for Harry. They all took them down fast, shuddering only slightly. 

"You know exactly what we mean." Louis whispered. 

"I was cold, he noticed, he pulled me closer to stay warm, the same way you two did. Speaking of things he noticed, did you two know I bite my cheek?" 

"We're different! We openly admit that we love each other! And what? No?" Liam said, looking at Louis. Louis simply shrugged. 

"Never mind. Outside was just staying warm. All better now. Nice and toasty." Zayn gave them a smile and turned to his left, just in time to see Harry dragging Hailee and Niall down the stairs. 

"What are you wearing?" Zayn laughed, taking in all of Niall's costume. Now he understood the leaves on Hailee's skirt and the flower crown on her head, that only consisted of more leaves. 

"We're Lilo and Stitch!" Niall smiled, his skin tinted pink from the alcohol. He adjusted the blue jacket he was wearing and put the hood up so it covered his eyes and all you could see were a pair of painted on eyes and a pair of ears. "It's also a play on you two!" He pointed to Louis and Liam. "You know, Liam, Louis, Lilo!" 

"Yea, we get it, Ni. Very clever." Louis rolled his eyes fondly. 

Zayn turned and grabbed the shot off the counter and handed it to Harry. 

"Shots?!" Niall said excitedly. 

"Let us catch up please?" Harry laughed and downed his shot, grimacing as it burned down his throat. 

"Have you both already given them shit about the spandex?" Niall asked, directing it at Louis and Liam. 

"Yes." Zayn and Harry grumbled as they downed the next round of shots that Harry ordered. 

As it crept closer to midnight, the crowd grew steadily. Niall pushed the boys up the stairs after their fifth shots, eventually talking Louis into singing a Carrie Underwood song, completely off key. 

At exactly 12:00 there was an announcement that the winners of the costume contest would now be announced. 

"What?! There was a costume contest!? How come I didn't know that?" Louis complained loudly, staring around at the faces of their small group. 

"If you had read the flier for tonight's party.." Liam grumbled and grabbed his boyfriend's hand. 

"If you knew, why did you let me dress us in stupid leather jackets?!" 

"Because it's your favorite movie, lovey and you look so good with your hair slicked back like that." Liam cooed and pulled Louis closer, pecking his lips lightly. Louis pouted slightly, but kissed back regardless. 

Zayn and Harry looked at each other and burst out laughing at their best friends dramatics. 

"Shut it, you two. You realize you're literally in spandex body suits still right? We're never letting you live this down!" Louis laughed and pointed his middle finger at them. 

Harry put a hand over his heart and scoffed. 

"It wasn't my idea!"

"You let me pick the costumes, Haz!" 

A few steps above them, all Hailee and Niall could do was smile at their friends antics, and wait for the winner to be announced. 

"Alright. So the winner is....." 

"Niall and Hailee!" 

All four of the boys groaned, knowing the fake blonde would never shut up about this and watched as the couple squealed and took bows, just to be dramatic. 

"As your award, any drinks you get from here on out is on the house." Paul laughed from the stage. "But any you've gotten before now, is on you Horan!" Niall saluted and turned around, smirking at the others. 

"Told you no one could beat our costumes this year." 

"If Zayn had just picked better costumes." Harry muttered under his breath. 

"If you wanted to win, why did you give the control to me?!" Zayn yelled, exasperated, as they walked down the stairs. 

"Because you weren't going to come with me if I didn't!" Harry yelled right back. 

"Can you both shut up??" Louis laughed and sat at the bar. 

"I'm sorry I didn't pick better costumes." Zayn mumbled. "I didn't know there was going to be a contest."

"I'm sorry, Z. I like our costumes. Really. Because of the reasoning you chose them." Harry smiled, dimples proudly showing on his cheeks. 

They progressed, conversations slowly slipping to drunken rambling. Eventually, after their 8th shots at two a.m. Harry found a way to pull Hailee to the dance floor, clumsily letting his arms flap around them. Zayn couldn't help but watch with a fond smile. 

"It happened, didn't it?" Niall sighed and rested his head against the cold counter. 

"What?" Zayn asked distractedly. 

"You like him again, don't you?" Louis poked at Zayn's side. 

Zayn bit at the inside of his cheek, before realizing what he was doing. "I need the bathroom." He exhaled and stood on unsteady feet. He made his way through the crowds, and pushed his way into the men's room, splashing his face with cold water. He heard the door open over his shoulder and Liam's face appeared next to his in the mirror. 

"Talk to me, Z? You like him, yea?" 

"What? No?" He breathed, water droplets still dripping off his chin. 

"You've never been able to lie to me, to any of us actually. Are you really going to try now?" 

"What exactly do you want me to say Liam?"

"Just admit it! For once, admit it without us having to fucking guess while you sit on the floor of Mama's crying!"

"Fine! I don't like Harry, Liam, I'm fucking in love with him! Don't think I ever really stopped. Happy?!" Zayn shouted, rounding on his friend. He felt the alcohol slipping away from him, his buzz wearing off. His eyes clouded with tears. 

"Z.." 

"I'm going. Tell Harry I'll leave to door unlocked so he doesn't have to fumble for his keys." Zayn exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and stepped around Liam, opening the door. 

Stood still in the way was Louis and Niall. And Harry. 

••• 

That's so not how he planned on telling Harry that he likes him (if he ever got around to it) and even worse, Harry wasn't doing anything. 

"I gotta go." Zayn said trying to push his way through his friends. 

"Oh no, you don't." Louis said grabbing his arm and pushing him back to his original spot.

"Stop. Please." Zayn grumbled, tears once again threatening to spill over. 

"Lou, stop." Niall said loud enough for all of them to hear and then whispered something in his ear. 

"Niall has a good point. Let's go. We're going." Louis said grabbing Zayn's hand in one of his and Harry's in his other. He pulled them through the bar and out the door, making a left on the street. Liam trailed behind with Niall and Hailee. Eventually, Hailee geared off in the direction of her and Niall's apartment, whispering about this being something she shouldn't be a part of. Niall kissed her cheek appreciatively and watched her go to their building. 

"Guys, stop. Please I just want to go." Zayn whined under his breath, not wanting to make an even bigger fool of himself than be already had. 

"No. We're doing this now because both of you are being ridiculous and we, as your best friends, are over it." Louis said. Sooner enough they turned down Center and it finally made sense. 

"No please. I really, really do not want to sit in the kitchen right now." 

"Too late." Liam sighed and grabbed Zayn's keys from the one pocket he had on his suit. 

Zayn looked to Harry to try and beg him to just let him go, but Harry's eyes were watching Liam. 

"Go!" Niall ordered as soon as Liam had the door pushed open. Harry was the first one through and made his way to the kitchen, leaning against the counter. 

Liam and Niall followed, with Louis having to push Zayn. 

"Lou, please, I can't do this. I didn't want Harry to hear it in the first place." Zayn begged, the tears finally fighting to his cheeks, creating tracks. 

"Well he did. And there's some things that you both have to air out, clearly." Louis said knowingly. 

Zayn stopped fighting and relaxed his shoulders, admitting defeat. He walked to the kitchen, Liam and Niall already in their spots on the floor. Well, not quite. Niall was pushed further down, too much room for where Zayn would sit. He opened his mouth to say something, but Niall's eyes flicked to Harry and Zayn understood. 

That's not his seat. It wasn't originally. It's Harry's. 

Zayn sat down at the same time as Louis, leaving Harry the only one on his feet. Harry's eyes slid past the boys and finally landed on the empty space. He shook his head and stared away at the fridge. 

"Who's going to start?" Louis asked, his arms folded across his chest. 

"I don't know what there is to say.. I'm pretty sure I said what I said in the bathroom.." Zayn whispered. 

"You didn't say it to me, though. You shouted it, hoping I wouldn't hear." Harry whispered into the quiet of the dark kitchen. 

"What do you want from me, H? Want me to make a fool of myself again..?"

"Why would you liking me or whatever, make you a fool? Is this about, like, me leaving before or something?" Harry asked, throwing his hands in the air. 

"Because you're my best friend and yea, I guess partly it's because you left!" Zayn sighed and stood up. 

"I thought we were over this!" Harry yelled, finally looking into Zayn's eyes. The green that met his were unfocused and clouded by unshed tears. It almost broke Zayn but he knew the best way to make it stop was to let it all out finally. 

"I've liked you since we were thirteen, Harry! Before I even knew I liked guys like that! And then you left, you walked away before I could even try and get you to like me. So yes, this is about you leaving! Because I had to get over it, before I even knew heartbreak, it happened." Zayn sighed, pulling on his hair slightly. They both were so focused, they didn't notice their friends slipping out and going through the front door. 

Harry tugged on his costume, still swearing at Zayn about it internally. He moved his way around the kitchen, needing to not stand still. "You said thirteen. I didn't leave for another three years! You had time, Zayn! If you had taken even the slightest look, you would have noticed that my favorite place was right beside you. I always liked you, even I didn't understand why. I stayed at your house more than the others, I ignored their texts in order to respond to you. I liked you, you idiot!" 

Zayn's head couldn't stop swimming with all the new information. Okay, so he was an idiot.. But wait, hold on. 

"Hold on. Liked?" Zayn asked desperately. 

Harry shrugged and picked at his nails. 

"No, that's one of your tells, Harry. I might bite my cheek, but you pick your nails when you're nervous. I notice things too." 

"I made myself get over it, Zayn. I didn't know if I could ever find a way to come back. I figured if I could just, make myself happy in Australia, forget about all of you, I could do it. Forget about Willow Grove forever. But everytime I gave myself just a little bit of happiness, you weren't fucking there. I shouldn't have said liked because I still do. I like you, Z." 

They stood in stunned silence, unsure where to go after the big revelations of the night. 

"Why did you not say anything?" Zayn groaned, suddenly feeling like he couldn't breathe.

"Do not do that. You like me to. In fact you said another very choice word. You never said anything either." 

"What do we do now?" 

"To be fair, I think Louis and Niall are placing bets on us throwing down right here and ripping these suits to shreds." 

"I paid a lot of money for these stupid things! No ripping will be happening." Zayn laughed for the first time in what felt like ages. 

Harry took a step and another until he stood in front of Zayn, and lifted a hand up to wipe at his cheeks where Zayn guessed he had tears. 

"Please don't cry.." 

"You wanna know why I never told you?" Harry nodded. "You're my best friend H. You're the best person I know, and without you in my life, things felt like they were about to snap. And when you came back, I couldn't risk it. You leaving again. I can't do that again."

Harry nodded and rested his palm against Zayn's cheek. "I understand that. But the thing is, I don't want to leave. This is and always will be home. I'm stuck, right here."

Zayn surged forward and latched his lips to Harry's, waiting for him to respond. 

As soon as he felt Harry kissing back, his hand found its way to Harry's hip and pulled him closer, closing the space between them. 

Harry pulled away first, gasping for air and kept his eyes closed. "Wow. Exactly how I imagined."

"What?" Zayn laughed. 

"When I was fifteen, I told myself kissing you would be like my lungs could finally work properly. Because for so long, I imagined your lips." 

"Please go on a date with me." Zayn practically begged and ran his finger tips up and down Harry's side. Harry visibly shivered under the touch and nodded. Zayn smiled and kissed him again, a bit harder, pushing until Harry's ass hit a counter and had him pinned. Harry bit at Zayn's lower lip until Zayn finally gave in and moaned, giving better access for Harry's tongue to crawl across lips and explore. 

Harry's hands had fought their way up to Zayn's neck, winding through his hair, and tugged lightly. Zayn made a whining sound and tilted his neck back, allowing Harry to move his way down and kiss across Zayn's skin, biting slowly, leaving small pink marks in the olive skin. Zayn felt his skin getting hotter, feeling the heat moving downward and stopping just below his belly button. 

"Babe, you should probably stop, or else the suits really will be ripped off." Zayn huffed out reluctantly. Harry laughed against Zayn's skin and pulled back, his skin flushed. 

"So about that date. When and where?" 

"Um, tomorrow? And uh, no idea where." Zayn laughed. 

"We'll figure it out. For now, I'm tired and I can tell I'm going to be hungover, the alcohol and the yelling didn't really mix well together." 

"Let's go, you baby giraffe." Zayn chuckled and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him through the quiet cafe. 

They walked through the empty streets in silence, hands clasped together, almost afraid of letting each other slip for even a moment. 

When the reached their building, a note was taped to their door, clearly in Louis's hand writing. 

**'YOU'RE BOTH IDIOTS'**

They chuckled and tore the paper down and Harry unlocked the door, seeing as Zayn was pretty sure Liam still had his keys. 

They trudged through the apartment and stopped just short of their rooms. 

"Go change and come to my room?" Zayn asked quietly, his hands playing idly with Harry's fingers. 

Harry nodded slowly and turned to his room, and walked through the door. Zayn quickly got through to his own room and shoved the art supplies that sat on his bed in the bedside table and kicked some random clothes into a corner. He unzipped the back of his suit and struggled to kick it off before changing into a pair of sweats and a random tank top he found in his closet. 

There was a small knock on his door and he tumbled over himself like a nervous teenager to grab the handle and pull it open, to reveal a smiling Harry, dressed in a loose black t shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. 

"Feel better out of the suit?" 

"Much." Harry smiled as Zayn grabbed his arm and pulled him through the door way, shutting the door behind him. 

"Thanks for wearing it." Zayn said and nuzzled against Harry's neck. 

"Thanks for finally telling me you liked me." Harry teased. 

Zayn groaned and crawled across the bed, laying on his side, waiting for Harry. "Get in the damn bed, you goof. I wanna sleep." 

Harry giggled and made his way to the bed, climbing in and snuggled against Zayn's chest. 

As they laid in the silence, Harry listened for Zayn's breathing to even out, knowing it doesn't take much for Zayn to fall asleep. 

"For the record, I think I'm in love with you too." He exhaled into the silence. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, hi. So it's been awhile! I got really bad writer's block and then when that stopped, I just started writing new stories and would turn back to this one for a few minutes. But I'm back and here's Chapter 3! Big, hug, freaking thank you to Amelia (@wabadabadaba) for being the one to push me literally all the time to finish this story. 
> 
> I'm also really sorry for the sappiness at the end of this, it's just apparently what I do, I romanticize things way more than they should. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading and hopefully the fourth and final chapter won't take nearly as long to get out!

Zayn's eyes peaked out at the rising sun in his window where he must have forgotten to close the blinds. He audibly groaned as he felt the headache pounding across his head and tried to sit up, but found his arm was pinned down by something heavy. His mind raced as he replayed the events of last night.

_("I've liked you since we were thirteen, Harry! Before I even knew I liked guys like that! And then you left, you walked away before I could even try and get you to like me. So yes, this is about you leaving! Because I had to get over it, before I even knew heartbreak, it happened." Zayn sighed, pulling on his hair slightly. They both were so focused, they didn't notice their friends slipping out and going through the front door._

_Harry tugged on his costume, still swearing at Zayn about it internally. He moved his way around the kitchen, needing to not stand still. "You said thirteen. I didn't leave for another three years! You had time, Zayn! If you had taken even the slightest look, you would have noticed that my favorite place was right beside you. I always liked you, even I didn't understand why. I stayed at your house more than the others, I ignored their texts in order to respond to you. I liked you, you idiot!")_

He groaned again. Jesus, how could he have been so reckless. Because now Harry was laying next to him in a shirt that had ridden up, exposing a small patch of skin on his hip and shorts that Zayn was pretty sure were his own. 

"Haz. Hazza, come on, get up. I need my arm back." Zayn whispered, nudging Harry with his knuckles lightly. 

"I thought I was the one that had to wake you up in the mornings." Harry grumbled into the pillow. 

"Not today. Let's go." Zayn said, pushing Harry harder with his fist, finally getting him to budge over enough to slip his arm out. He stood slowly, and evaluated the situation. 

Harry. Bed. Sleep. Probably cuddling, _obviously dumbass, he was on your arm_. Feelings. Out there. 

He pushed his hair out of his face and made his way to the kitchen, turning on the coffee pot and loaded the filter before heading back to his bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing a slow hand down Harry's back. 

"H? I'm going to go shower. I started coffee, okay? You can sleep here if you want to still." Harry hummed an affirmative and burrowed deeper under the covers, chasing the warmth. Zayn chuckled lightly and walked to the bathroom. With the water turned on to the highest heat, he quickly stripped, and used the toilet before stepping under the stream and feeling his muscles ease slowly. 

He spent fifteen minutes under the water wondering what to do. Are they actually doing this? Were the words true last night or once again just alcohol making their minds jumble. Well, he knew his words were true. If they are doing this, where could he take Harry as a date? There weren't fancy restaurant's in town, only Mama's and a pizza place a couple streets over. Movies could work, but then it might not seem like a date, that's something they did regularly as friends. He shook his head and decided he was over thinking this. It's Harry. He knew they'd be fine. 

By the time he stopped analyzing every little possibility, the water was bordering on cold and he had to rush to actually get his hair washed, along with his body. 

As he stepped out, he heard the ding of the coffee pot and the clangs of pans moving around in the kitchen. Harry's awake. He wrapped a towel around his hips and walked through the apartment stopping in front of the counter, a few feet from where Harry was prepping two cups of coffee while humming a random song to himself. 

"Good morning." He chided, making Harry jump and spill creamer on the counter. 

"Oh my god Z! You did that on purpose, you ass!" 

"But you're cute when you get all jumpy." Zayn teased. 

"Glad you think so, now go put some clothes on." Harry squeaked and Zayn laughed when Harry's eyes wandered farther down his body, stopping every few seconds. 

"Aww. But that's no fun." 

"I'll dump your coffee down the drain." Harry threatened, holding up the second mug that rested on the counter. 

"Don't you dare, Harry Edward Styles." Zayn pointed a finger at him warningly and turned around, walking back to his bed room. He quickly threw on a random pair of briefs in his drawer along with a new pair of sweats and a random hoodie from the back of his closet. 

"If you touched my coffee!" He yelled as he walked in the kitchen, seeing his coffee still sitting on the counter and Harry at the stove making pancakes. He walked over and wrapped his arms around his waist. 

"Thanks for not dumping my coffee."

"Like I'd do that to you. Then I'd have to deal with an angry Zayn all day." Harry smirked and flipped the batter, only making a small mess. 

"That's why you were never going to work in the kitchen at Mama's and get stuck out front with the customers." Zayn chuckled and unraveled himself to get his coffee. 

"Rude. I can cook!" Zayn shrugged and sipped his drink. 

"So about last night." He paused to get his thoughts in order. Clearly, it was too long of a pause though. 

"Zayn, I swear to God, if you are about to say it was the alcohol talking, I will pretend you are Flynn Rider and hit you with the frying pan." 

"Really? Disney is the best you got? I guess eventually you might pass as Rapunzel. Gonna have to let it grow again and dye it blonde though." Zayn teased and ran a hand through his curls. 

"Zaaayyynn" Harry whined. 

"Bossy. I was going to say that, I don't know about you, but I meant it. Everything. I want to take you out tonight, if you're free."

"Don't scare me like that!" Harry yelled and smacked Zayn on the arm. "Yes, I'm free for our date tonight. You don't have work though?" 

"Nope. Mom and Wali this morning, Louis and Liam tonight."

Harry raised an eyebrow and put the first two finished pancakes on a plate. "Is that smart?"

"Probably not. I'll deal with the consequences tomorrow morning." Zayn shrugged and took the plate from Harry. He pulled two forks from the drawer and placed the plate of food in the microwave to keep it warm until Harry's food was ready. 

"So about that date. Do you have any plans?" Harry asked with a smile. 

"Maybe we can go to Eddie's? Get pizza?" Zayn suggested. 

"Mm. Pizza doesn't sound good. Plus there'll be people there." Harry grimaced. "I was slightly thinking maybe we could just stay here? Make dinner together?"

Zayn smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, let's do that. But you have to go to your mom's." Zayn said, taking another gulp of his coffee. 

"Huh? Why?" Harry turned around and stared at Zayn with his lips turned down. 

"Then I can come pick you up of course, duh. It'll be a proper date." Harry smiled at the reasoning and walked over to the slightly shorter man and placed his hands on his waist. 

"You're kind of a sap, yea?" 

"After eight years of pining after you? Oh hell yea I am." Zayn responded and kissed Harry's mouth tentatively, giving Harry time to pull back. Except, all Harry did was pull Zayn closer to him and kissed back, smiling against Zayn's lips. 

Zayn let his hands snake around Harry's neck and he breathed in the wonderful taste of Harry in the morning. Neither of them had brushed their teeth yet, but Zayn couldn't bring himself to care, because all Harry tasted like was the coffee he had been drinking and something purely _Harry_. He slowly pulled back but kept his hands where they were, tickling at the base of Harry's neck, tangling his hair.

"I think your pancakes are burning, babe." He laughed.

"Huh?" Harry asked, forgetting he had been making food. "Oh shit!" He yelled and turned around quickly to get the food from the stove. 

Zayn simply laughed and continued to sip from his mug. 

  * ••



Zayn looked in the mirror for the third time, making sure the navy button down looked alright with the grey skinny jeans that weren't too tight, but tight enough that it gave the impression he had an ass. He groaned and nodded. 

Harry had left three hours earlier, after spending the rest of the morning and afternoon watching Netflix and sitting close together on the couch. 

Now that Harry had been gone for hours, Zayn was starting to panic. This had to be perfect. He couldn't go back to just being Harry's best friend. Not now, knowing that he and Harry could be something better. 

Zayn slipped his shoes on and grabbed his wallet and phone. Double checking he had his keys, he slipped out the door and made his way down the stairs and out the front entrance, luckily not bumping into Liam or Louis. 

As he walked down the street, he felt himself getting giddy with the idea of seeing Harry again and he felt himself relax a little knowing that fact. He continued to walk and just before the corner to turn on to Hayes Street to get to Anne's house, he saw the market across the street, with fresh flowers sitting out front. He smiled to himself and walked over quickly and scanned the bouquets before deciding on a set of daisies. He paid MaryAnn, the sweet 60 year old that was usually the only cashier. 

He exited and went down the street, stopping in front of the blue and grey two story house that Zayn knew entirely too well. He took a deep breath before walking up the few porch steps. Usually he wouldn't knock, never had to before, but he knew this wasn't him coming by as Harry's best friend. 

He hit his knuckles against the wood a few times and took a small step backwards with the flowers tucked behind his back. He heard the scuffle of shoes behind the door and saw the familiar jiggle of the door knob, because it always got jammed when the weather got colder. 

Zayn steadied himself and sighed in relief when Harry's dimples popped up on the other side of the door. He shamelessly let his eyes wander over Harry's body, taking in the tight black jeans, paired with the blue shirt that Zayn loved probably a little too much, the one with little cherry blossoms on it. He had left it unbuttoned and put a white T-shirt on underneath. 

Harry cleared his throat, trying to get Zayn out of his trance of checking the boy out. 

"You look amazing, Haz." Zayn said with a small smile playing on his lips. 

"So do you. I like that color on you." Harry nodded towards Zayn's shirt. 

Zayn blushed at that and quickly turned his head, bringing the flowers from behind his back. "I got you these." 

"Oh my god. They're beautiful, Z. Thank you." Harry smiled and reached out with one hand to grab them, the other still stuck behind his own. "I may have stopped on my way here earlier." Harry laughed and pulled his arm out, revealing his own bouquet of tulips and holding them out for Zayn. Zayn laughed and pulled them from Harry's hand, lifting them to his face. 

"Are you, uh, ready to go?" Zayn asked nervously, pointing with his thumb behind him. 

"Oh right! Let me grab my phone and let mom know I'm finally leaving. She's sick of me again already." Harry laughed and turned around. 

"That's not true, Harry!" Anne called out as she stepped into the entry, coming from the kitchen. "Hi, Zayn." She smiled. "You look very nice." She said knowingly. 

"Hey, Anne. Thank you." He smiled back, his fingers playing absentmindedly with the petals of the tulips. 

"Okay, got everything. Let's go. Bye mom!" Harry rambled quickly and pulled Zayn out by his elbow. 

"Bye boys! Have fun!" 

"Sorry, I knew if I left you alone long enough with her, she'd start interrogating you." Harry mumbled as they walked down the street. 

"Oh please. Anne loves me. Remember, for my eighth birthday, my parents had to rush Doni to the hospital cause she broke her arm? Your mom was the one to throw a last minute party with the five of us just so I didn't have a crappy birthday." 

"I actually did forget about that. Louis broke the present he brought you and Jay got so pissed. She made him give you one of his favorite toys as an apology." 

"I gave it back to him the next day." Zayn confessed with a sheepish smile. Harry gasped as they walked up the stairs to their apartment. Zayn hadn't realized just how quickly they made it back to the building, but he was glad they were truly alone now. 

"I teased him mercilessly for months because of that!" Harry squealed, walking through the door. He kicked his shoes off and went to the kitchen. 

Zayn shrugged and followed behind Harry, still playing with the flowers. "We didn't think it was a big deal. Jay never even knew." 

Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed a vase from below the sink. He reached his hand out towards Zayn, silently asking for the tulips. Zayn sighed and reluctantly handed them over. 

"So what are the plans for tonight?" Harry asked as he snipped the ends of the stems on the flowers. 

"Um, not sure really. We could make pasta? I know we have some chicken in the fridge that needs to be cooked before it goes bad. I forgot to freeze it and I bought like two days ago.." 

"Sounds good. Since you say I can't cook, I'll leave the chicken to you." Harry laughed. "I'll boil the noodles and cut some vegetables?" He asked, more than stated. Zayn nodded and turned on music on his phone.

They worked around each other in somewhat silence, every once in a while, they would make a joke at each other or simply share a look and smile. 

Harry drained the pasta at the same time Zayn took the meat off the stove. Once everything was put together in one pot, they loaded up their plates and looked around.

"Uh, couch?" Zayn suggested. 

"Y-yeah. That sounds good." Harry agreed and walked to the couch. They sat and ate, once again letting themselves fall into silence, minus the music still playing from Zayn's phone. 

"How's work going?" Zayn tried, even though Harry usually told him everyday how his day was. 

"Hm? Oh good. Jay's getting some new flooring put in the music room."

"Right. Louis told me on Tuesday." Zayn nodded and bit his lip. 

"Of course, duh. His mom and all." Harry laughed nervously. "How's the cafe?" 

"The usual. Nothing interesting ever happens." Zayn shrugged and pushed away his plate as he finished the food. "How's your mom? And Robin?" 

"Good, I guess. Mom started asking questions immediately about what we were doing tonight and got kind of excited when I told her what this kind of was. But like not. I didn't tell her it was a date or anything. Just that we were having dinner, but I'm sure she saw right through that."

"Right. Why didn't you tell her it was a date?" Zayn asked nervously. That's definitely what this is, a date. Right? They specifically kept using that word earlier. 

"Just didn't want her getting involved. Although she probably already called your mom. You know, small town and all." Harry shrugged and then his eyes kind of widened just barely, realizing what he was implying. 

And Zayn knew it too. Everything is everyone's business. That's what made Harry leave before. Not allowing himself to go there, Zayn picked up the remote at the same time he hit the pause button on his music. 

"Tv? We could find something on Netflix or something?" He gave a small smile. 

"Yea, sure." Harry nodded quickly. 

They watched some reality show that was on the channel when the tv turned on, neither having the will to change it. By the time they had watched two episodes, Zayn finally glanced at the time and realized it was eleven o'clock. 

"Um, it's 11. I should probably sleep. I gotta work in the morning." 

"Right, totally." Harry nodded and stood up, gathering the two plates in his hands. As he deposited them in the sink, he called out to Zayn. "Hey Z?" 

"Yea?" 

"Um. I don't know if it was just me, but did this seem, a little bit. I don't know.."

"Awkward?" Zayn offered. 

"Yea." Harry agreed and scratched at the back of his neck. 

"Maybe we should..." Zayn started, unsure where to take that. He knew he never wanted to be just friends with Harry now. He knew how it felt to kiss him, and how it felt to fall asleep with him right there, but now Harry seemed unsure. As he was about to suggest going out in public next time, where they weren't just in their apartment, Harry spoke up. 

"Stay friends.?" He whispered, seemingly unable to meet Zayn's eyes. 

Zayn felt his breath falter and his pulse quickened, but managed to control his breathing when he finally answered. 

"Yea, maybe it'd be better.." Zayn agreed. "You're my best friend. And nothing can change that. Yea?" He choked out, trying to sound hopeful. 

"Yea. Best friend. You should get some sleep." Harry laughed, looking at the flowers in the vase. 

"Right. Night, Haz."

"Goodnight Z."

  * •• 



Over the next week they barely ever talked about it, except for the next day. Harry had been nervous, clearly and he woke up early, specifically to talk to Zayn. 

"Hey, are we.. We're good right?" He asked nervously, his eyes wide and somewhat red. Zayn couldn't help but wonder just how long he stayed awake the night before, while he had only been able to sleep for a few hours tops because he kept tossing and turning. 

"We're good, Haz. I meant what I said, you're my best friend. At least now we know what it felt like." Zayn said, trying to force a smile. 

"Right. Okay. Have a good day at the cafe. I work tonight at the center so I won't be home until late." Harry gave him a small smile in return and waved him away. 

Niall obviously hadn't been a help because as soon as Zayn walked through the door at Mama's, Niall was immediately in front of him, asking questions. 

"What happened after we left? Does he love you back? Is there going to be a Zarry wedding in the future?" He asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Zayn had to chuckle lightly and hold back the scoff that stuck in his throat. 

"Slow down, Ni. We had a date, it was awkward, so we agreed to stay friends. Now come on, did you already wipe down the counters?" 

"FRIENDS?! What the hell do you mean?! You have been in love with him for literal years. What happened? What do you mean awkward?" Niall rambled, unable to accept what Zayn said. He followed Zayn around the cafe, even though the older man chose to stay quiet, ignoring his friend. 

That is until Niall didn't let up even after they opened the front door. 

"Come on Z! Talk to me!" 

"Niall stop! I really just don't want to talk about it, okay? It was a stupid thing to do! We all should have seen that! Now please. Mrs. Norris is here. I'm going to go.. Clean out the fridge or something. Let me know when we get orders." He said with a tone of finality, and turned on his heels and headed towards the kitchen. 

Even after a week had passed though, things didn't seem to change. Zayn made sure to take as many shifts at the cafe as possible, and always offered to take one the boys if they needed him to. He hadn't seen Harry that often and assumed that he had done the same thing at the center. 

He knew he was being stupid, but he couldn't just be Harry's friend. Knowing that's all Harry saw now, hurt. So distance was exactly what Zayn needed. 

He laid in bed later than usual, making sure he heard the front door shut before he got out of bed. He rubbed his eyes, which were blood shot still after not getting much sleep. He walked out of his room and saw a thermos of coffee sitting on the counter next to a note from Harry. 

'I'll be home around two. Wasn't sure when you'd wake up. Have a good day. ♡ -H' 

Zayn smiled at the note, the type of smile that only Harry could get from the older boy and he grabbed the thermos. It was still only nine o'clock and luckily he didn't have to work. He wandered aimlessly around the space, cleaning up here and there, his mind shutting off.

Eventually, he found himself standing in front of the front door, his shoes already on, unsure of how he got there or how long he had been standing there. He sighed and shrugged his jacket on. He stepped up out the door and made a quick decision to turn onto Center and walked up the steps leading to Mama's front entrance.

He ignored the looks he was getting from Louis and Niall and went straight to the stairs in the back room that led to the roof. He sank down into his green chair and bent his knees, allowing his head to rest there. Inevitably, he heard the door open away from him and footsteps approaching. 

Zayn lifted his head and locked eyes with Louis who simply offered a small smile. He sat on the couch that had basically become his and Liam's over the years. 

"So did you volunteer to come up or did Niall call not it?" 

"Little bit of both." Louis shrugged and lifted his own feet. "We need to get a couple of other couches up here." 

"Just one. I'm good with my chair. So is Harry." Zayn said pointedly and shot a look at his older best friend. 

"What's going on Z? You've been moping and so has Harry. I don't get what you want. Do you want to be with him or not? He's all you talked about for years and now you avoid him like he has the bubonic plague."

Zayn stopped and stared at the ground below him and considered the question. Louis allowed him to sit in the silence for a few minutes, waiting patiently until he heard him sigh. 

"I want him. I've always wanted him. But it was awkward and uncomfortable. We had nothing to talk about and.. I'm scared. Besides, he's the one who suggested we stay friends. He wanted this first. So I need to allow that. And get over it."

Louis scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Have you possibly stopped to think he only told you that because he thinks it's what you want? Let's face it, you're a little sensitive and he probably saw that you were scared and nervous, so to make things easier on you both, he attempted to fix things." Louis paused and thought over what he just said, "We love you for it, don't get me wrong! We all know when we have a problem, if we come to you, you'll be there to let us cry or scream or just drink the problems away. But when you have a problem? You do this. Hide away and wallow. Neither of you want to lose the other and so to do just that, you gave each other up. He's hurting just as much Z. You need each other. I need Liam. Niall needs Hailee. You NEED Harry." 

Louis sighed and stood up and made his way back across the roof and went downstairs, leaving Zayn alone with Louis's words. 

Niall stared at Louis as he made his way to the kitchen and shut off the stove. "My job's done. Your turn. Go talk some sense into Harry, I'm giving Zayn about ten minutes before he makes some type of decision so you don't have much time." Niall nodded and took off his name tag, throwing it on the counter. He grabbed his phone and rushed out the door, walked two streets down and took a left. The community center came into view and Jay sat outside talking to some members of staff. 

"Hey Niall. What brings you by?" She smiled brightly at him and stood up, pulling him into a brief hug. 

"Hey Jay. I need to talk to Harry." 

"Ahh. I figured one of you boys would be by soon. He's in the music room. Remember how to find it?" 

"Yes. Thank you, Jay." Niall nodded once and pushed through the doors. He found the room fairly quick and looked through the small window in the door, making sure Harry was alone before he charged into the room.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Niall ordered. 

Harry's eyes shot up from the paper he was writing on. "Ni? What are you.. What are you doing here?" He sighed and pushed the pencil away from him. 

"Zayn is up on the roof of Mama's right now, pouting because he thinks you don't want him. But I know you. I see the red in your eyes. You don't want him. You need him." Niall groaned and sat down across from him. 

"Niall. No. He just… It was a bad date and we could barely look at each other and said maybe five sentences back and forth. I'm not risking this. I'm not going to risk losing my Zayn."

"Weren't you listening that night at Mama's, after the bar? He has wanted you for so fucking long. I don't think you could do anything that would make him want to leave, just like I know you've loved him far too long, that you'd never walk away either.."

They sat in quiet silence before Harry spoke up. "How do you know he'll even still want me..? "

Niall snorted and let a smile grow on his face. "The first time he told us he loves you. It was probably a month after you left. He had gone to your mom and asked if you were okay and happy. She said she thought so. I think he was hoping she would say no and that you were ready to come back." Before Harry could cut him off, Niall rushed to continue speaking. "I know, you weren't happy but we didn't know that. Anyways, it was about midnight, and Doniya called us and said she had no idea where he was. We knew automatically, that he was at Mama's. By the time we got there, he had downed probably two and a half bottles of alcohol that we had stashed in the back of one of the freezers. We sat on the counters and begged him to tell us what was happening. And he told us. His exact words were that he was hopelessly in love with you."

Harry shuddered in his spot and pulled in a deep breath. "So in other words, you think I'm an idiot?"

"Just a little. Now please. Go get him from the roof. Louis and I can't concentrate on work knowing he's up there brooding. Put us all out of our misery." Niall laughed. 

Harry laughed himself and got up, basically running out of the room and down the hallway to find Jay. He let her know he was leaving and ran all the way back to Mama's, hoping to everything that Zayn was still on the roof. He rushed up the stairs and crashed on to the somewhat soft landing, with a quiet "oof".

"Haz? You good, clumsy?" Zayn asked with an amused chuckle. Harry sighed in relief at the sound and looked up, noticing how Zayn's eyebrow was quirked and his legs were tucked beneath him. 

"Yes. Yes, I'm so good." Harry nodded erratically and got up from his position on the ground. 

"So what are you doing up here then..?" Zayn asked slowly.

Harry sat in his own chair and crossed his long limbs. "Niall came to find me."

"I thought he might. Louis came to me. Now all we need is Liam running up here and demanding a group hug." Zayn nodded with an amused chuckle. 

"Zayn. I want-" Harry started, as Zayn groaned a low "H, can we-" They both heaved sighs before looking each other in the eyes. 

"You talk first, please." Zayn practically begged before they could stutter more.

Harry's breath caught in his throat before he rushed out, "I want you. I want us. Yes, the first date was awkward and weird but what first date isn't? It was stupid of me to suggest staying friends, I just thought maybe it would be easier for the both of us.. But I can't. I want the fights and the cuddling and the late night drives because we can't sleep. And I really really hope you do too." He finished and sucked in a breath, shutting his eyes, not sure if he could take the rejection. 

When there was a solid minute of silence, he braved opening his eyes, and was surprised to see Zayn crouched in front of him, on his knees, carefully not touching him. 

"Took you long enough to open your eyes." Zayn laughed lightly, the air around the two of them suddenly becoming lighter and more breathable. "We're idiots. We keep saying it but then we just do something even more idiotic. Jesus, Haz, of course I want you! I never wanted to go back to just friends! You're my Harry and I want all of it. I want the dancing in the kitchen and the gross, morning breath kisses. Please, let's do this and just skip the first dates and the awkwardness.." Zayn sighed and reached a hand out, a hopeful glint in his eyes. 

Harry looked on the brink of tears before he lunged forward, locking his lips on Zayn's. They both lost their balance and ended with Zayn pinned below Harry, his arms locked behind Harry's back. 

"Oi! Not on the sacred space that is our roof!" They heard yelled from the edge to their left where the door stood. They laughed, breaking apart and turned to see their three idiots smiling dopily at them. 

"Oh shut up, Tomlinson! I've literally walked up here to see you giving Liam a blowjob!" Zayn called back, his tongue barely visible behind the whites of his teeth. Louis only shrugged and pushed his way through to sit on his couch, Liam trailing behind him. Niall sat on his usual chair, while Zayn and Harry groaned in their spot. 

Zayn leaned up and whispered into Harry's ear, "We could ditch them, head back to the apartment?"

"Dear god yes!" Harry nodded fervently and jumped to his feet. He reached a hand out to the older boy and pulled him towards the door quickly. 

Behind them, they could hear catcalls and whistles, and a distant, "Wear protection!" but they really couldn't care enough to reply.

  * •• 



Zayn huffed as Harry padded around the apartment, tidying up. 

"Haz? Haz!" He shouted, making Harry spin on his heels. 

"I'm just, you know, nervous. I know we said no awkwardness, but like.." He paused and looked down. Zayn gave him a moment to collect his thoughts and by the time Harry looked back up, he had a new look of determination in his eyes. "I really, really, want you to kiss me." 

"There you are." Zayn smirked and moved forward, settling his hands on Harry's hips and pulled him closer. "This look is hella sexy." He said before pressing his lips firmly against Harry's, moving surely. Harry reciprocated and moved his hands to cup either side of Zayn's neck.

They moved slowly, neither wanting the kiss to ever end. Zayn slipped his lips away and moved across Harry's face, pressing soft kisses down his jaw and neck before stopping on the swallow tattoo laid across his collarbone. 

"Bed. Please Zayn." Harry whimpered, his hands tangling in Zayn's hair. Zayn nodded and grabbed Harry's wrist, pulling him hastily down the corridor, towards Zayn's room. They stumbled into the walls, laughing as they both tried to take off their shoes at the same time. 

Somehow they managed to get their shoes off and stumbled over each other to get their socks off, laughing in between kisses. Zayn reached around Harry and opened the door behind him, causing Harry to nearly fall backwards but Zayn wrapped his arm around Harry's waist to catch him. 

"Thanks," Harry breathed into Zayn's lips. 

"Mm," Zayn murmured, capturing Harry's lips in another kiss. 

Zayn clutched Harry's shirt in his fist as he walked them backwards until Harry was sitting on the bed. Zayn straddled Harry's lap and kissed down his neck, only moving away to take Harry's shirt off. 

"Zayn," Harry panted as Zayn's hands roamed his body.

Zayn smirked against Harry's chest as he kissed down it, taking each nipple in his mouth as he did so. Harry gasped as he bucked his hips up when Zayn twirled his tongue around his nipple as his other hand twisted the other. Zayn smiled up at Harry as he continued to kiss down his body until he reached the top of Harry's pants. 

"Can I-?" Zayn asked as he unbuttoned his pants. 

"Please," Harry sighed. "I have only been dreaming of this for forever," Harry laughed.

"That makes two of us babe."

Zayn pulled down Harry's pants and boxers and shoved them to the side before licking his lips and wasting no time in swallowing Harry down. Harry was surprised by the action, his knees knocked into Zayn's head.

"Sorry," Harry rushed out. "Fuck, Z, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"You might have given me a concussion," Zayn laughed, as he wrapped his hand around Harry's cock. 

"Worth it though, yeah?" Harry grinned as Zayn took him in his mouth again.

Zayn moaned an affirmation around Harry's length, causing Harry to squirm and try to buck his hips. Zayn held down his sides with firm hands and stared up at the younger man's face through his lashes, watching as his lips fell open in a quiet moan. 

"F-fuckk." Harry whined and winded his fingers through Zayn's hair. "Feels.. so good.."

Zayn smirked as he felt Harry hit the back of his throat. He loosened his jaw and pulled a deep breath in through his nose. Harry's hands slackened in Zayn's hair and instead moved to his shoulders, nudging him gently. 

Zayn pulled off, wiping his mouth with the pad of his thumb. "What do you want babe?" He whispered as he leant down and pressed soft kisses teasingly across Harry's skin. "Want me inside you?"

"Please. Whatever you want." Harry sighed wantonly and arched his back into Zayn's touch. 

Zayn grinned against the soft skin and got up, sitting on his own knees. He peeled his shirt from his body, throwing it somewhere off to the side. Harry's hands slid across his thighs and popped the button of his jeans. His hands brushed lightly against Zayn's erection and he couldn't help the low, throaty growl that escaped his mouth. 

"Oo someone's sensitive." Harry smirked. 

"Oh shut it, you prick." Zayn laughed weakly and slid the zipper of his jeans down, peeling the tight pants from his body and kicked them off hastily, leaving them in a pile on the floor. 

Harry couldn't keep his eyes from wandering the other man's body. He slipped his thumbs into the waistband of Zayn's briefs and tugged slowly, exposing the tan skin inch by inch until his erection was fully on show, red and slowly leaking with precome. "You're so fucking gorgeous, Z."

Zayn bit the inside of his cheek and looked down, watching Harry's hands on their exploration of his skin. He moaned when one of Harry's hands slipped lower, gripping loosely at his cock and thumbed teasingly at his slit. 

"You really want to tease me right now?" Zayn groaned and used Harry's hips to brace himself. 

Harry smirked. "Maybe I do. What are you gonna do about it?" 

Zayn's eyebrow quirked at the challenging tone and in one swift movement, he had both of Harry's wrists in one hand, pinned above his head while the other grabbed the lube from his bedside table. Harry squirmed in Zayn's hold and stared up at him with unfocused, but fond eyes. 

Zayn snapped open the lube cap and coated his index and middle fingers before reaching down and applying gentle but firm pressure around Harry's entrance. He watched Harry's face carefully as he slipped his index finger in to the first knuckle. Harry let out a broken moan as Zayn continued pressing in, crooking his finger gently, watching Harry's face as he did so, watching for any signs of displeasure. 

"More, please Zayn." Harry groaned. Zayn complied and slid another finger in beside the first. He scissored the two and smirked as Harry's moans got away from him and he began panting, the sounds sounding vaguely of Zayn's name. 

"You good babe?" Zayn whispered against Harry's neck. 

"Another." Is all Harry could get out before another moan broke out. Zayn added his third finger but didn't move anything as he let Harry get used to the new feeling. 

Harry felt the stretch and it felt like his skin was on fire and tears threatened to spill from the corners of his eyes. Slowly it lessened and he ground his hips down on to the fingers pressing against his walls. 

Zayn scissored his digits and pushed in farther, pressing against Harry's prostate, which made Harry's back arch once again and his toes curled. "Zaynie. Please. I need you. I want you, please." Harry's begged. 

Zayn nodded even though Harry's eyes were screwed shut and slowly pulled his fingers from the younger man. "I need to get a condom, okay H? They're just in my dresser, okay?" 

Harry nodded frantically and Zayn climbed from the bed, practically running to the other side of the room and rummaged through the top drawer where he had left the last box of condoms he bought. 

"Why did you keep them so far away, doofus?" Harry laughed lightly from where we was splayed beautifully on the bed. 

Zayn chuckled lightly as he tore a packet away and opened it with his teeth. "Haven't needed them in awhile and it felt weird to just have them lying around in my bedside." He said as he crawled back between Harry's legs. 

Harry took the condom from Zayn's hand and unrolled it down Zayn's length, jerking him off slowly. 

"Baby. You really need to stop doing that," Zayn let out a nervous laugh, "unless you want this to last .02 seconds."

"Best .02 seconds of my entire existence."

"Drama queen."

Harry shrugged with a single shoulder and spread his legs wider, allowing for Zayn to crawl up farther. Zayn gripped the base of his cock and let it rest against Harry's opening. 

"You sure you want this, H? Us?" 

Harry locked eyes with the older man and grinned, his dimples on full display. "I am completely and irreversibly in love with you, Z."

That was all it took before Zayn was pushing into Harry, slowly but steadily, until he had bottomed out. He stayed impossibly still, allowing for Harry to adjust. 

"I'm so gone for you Harry Styles. I'm in love with you too."

Harry dug his nails into Zayn's shoulder blades as he felt the stretch even more now and the burn and the pain, but all he could focus on was Zayn's words. 

"You can.. Move, now, please." He breathed out, his hips grinding lightly, the pleasure slowly overshadowing the pain. "I need you Zayn." He repeated. 

Zayn dragged himself out by a few inches and pushed back, groaning at the heat surrounding him. "Fuck, Haz." 

Together, the two of them panted against the others skin, wherever the could touch as Zayn thrusted in and out, not going hard, but enough that he could feel his belly burn lowly. 

"Stop holding back. Please." Harry whined, wrapping his legs around Zayn and pulled him impossibly closer. 

"You sure?" Zayn moaned. 

All he got was a nod in response as Harry moaned out again. Zayn sat back, holding Harry's hips with a tight grip as he let his cock slide out to the tip before slicing back in quickly, eliciting a litany of curses from Harry's mouth, his head thrown back. They continued that way for a few more thrusts before Zayn felt the hot burn just below his navel, Harry's body not doing much better, as he slowly tensed and his legs tightened around Zayn's waist. 

"Babe. So close." Zayn whined as he leant back over Harry's body, his lips capturing the skin along Harry's jaw. His hips stuttered as his pace quickened. "Mine. You're mine. Forever."

"Yours, Z. Fuck, please please. Need to.." Harry babbled before Zayn's hand wrapped around Harry's leaking cock. 

"Wanna come for me? Come on baby." He murmured into Harry's skin as he jerked him off quickly. Before he could get even a second pump in, Harry painted his stomach in white and his breath hitched as Zayn fucked him through his orgasm. 

It didn't take more than one, two thrusts before Zayn had come deep in the condom, his chest heaving between them. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, both trying to even out their breaths. Harry's hands slowly found their way to Zayn's hair, smoothing it from his forehead. 

Zayn pulled out slowly, watching as Harry winced slightly at the empty feeling. They cuddled up together once Zayn was done tying off the condom into the trash under his desk and had cleared the streaks from Harry's stomach. 

"So forever, huh?" Harry asked in the middle of a yawn. 

"Forever." Zayn nodded in affirmation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory, I'm really sorry it's taken so long to get this out there! I'm just crap at keeping focused.
> 
> Anyways, this is a spur of the moment post and I haven't even had Amelia read the last part of this so any mistakes are mine!
> 
> Very Nailee-centric chapter!
> 
> I really hope you guys are good and safe! Happy Holidays!

"Tell me again why we're carrying 200 pound sofas to the roof?" Niall whined from the front of the aforementioned loveseat that he and Liam were attempting to shove on to the top landing of the concrete roof. 

"Because Horan! We're sick of hearing you complain and whine about there not being enough two person seating when all three couples are up here." Louis yelled from where he sat on his and Liam's couch with Hailee next to him. 

"At least we're only taking two of them up here." Liam sighed. They finished pushing the orange loveseat into position on the right side of the other. 

"Speaking of, where are Harry and Zayn?" 

"Probably still making out on their couch." Hailee smirked and moved her way over to sit cross legged on her and Niall's new loveseat. 

Downstairs, just as Hailee predicted, Harry sat across Zayn's lap, pressing slow kisses into his jaw in the dark cafe. 

"Babe. We're supposed to be carrying this couch upstairs, not still sitting on it."

Harry groaned into Zayn’s skin and pouted. "But I'm so comfy right here. And upstairs means carrying a thousand pounds up two flights of stairs."

"Alright, drama queen. It's at most, 250 pounds. Didn't you want me to share my good news with the rest of them??" Zayn asked, his grip on Harry's hips loosening. "I mean, something that warranted a morning blow job deserves to be celebrated by everyone else." Zayn teased. He got the desired effect and Harry pulled away, shock apparent on his now very red face. 

"That… was so uncalled for!" Harry laughed and got off his boyfriend's lap with a shove to Zayn's chest. 

Zayn chuckled and stood on his feet, nuzzling into Harry's neck. "But it was such a good blow job. That thing, with your tongue…" He teased again as Harry shoved him away and went to stand on the other side of the couch.

"That's it. No sex for a fucking month, mister!" He said as sternly as possible as the tops of his ears turned pink and he bent down to lift his end of the couch. 

"As if you could resist for that long." Zayn rolled his eyes and did the same on his end of the green couch.

The entire way up the stairs, they bickered about who would last longer and by the time the couch was on the roof, Louis was calling for them to shut it already. "We get it! You're sickeningly sweet and perfect in every goddamn way! Now please make it stop, Leeyum!" He begged his boyfriend, burying his face in the other man's shirt collar. 

Liam rubbed at his boyfriend's back and chuckled. "Alright, what are we all doing up here, moving couches at…" He crawled while looking at his watch, "Eleven o'clock at night, in November no less?"

Harry and Zayn sat on their lovely new green couch, which technically was only new to them as they had bought the two new couches from Mrs. Norris for fifteen dollars a piece, and smiled dopily at each other before turning to their friends. 

"Zayn has some news."

Zayn fiddled with his thumbs. "You guys know how I put off school because of family and needing to be here to help with Mama's and everything…?"

"Yea…" All three of the guys droned. 

"Well, I decided to go back and get a degree."

"Z, that's awesome!" Liam called out. 

"Where are you going to go?" Louis asked. 

"Just Cape Fear, like you. Two year courses seemed easier. Plus the commute isn't impossible."

"Well did you apply?" Niall asked, giddy and bouncing his leg in excitement for his best friend. 

"Yea, I did. I got my acceptance letter this morning." Zayn gave them a small laugh when they cheered and jumped from their seats to crowd around him, arms tugging him in. 

"Zaynie's getting a degree! Zaynie's getting a degree!" They changed in unison. 

"All of you can shut it you know!" He chuckled. He felt knuckles rubbing slowly across his knee and looked down where Harry's hand was and then up to Harry's face. He felt his heart tug at the fond look in Harry's eyes. 

'I love you' Zayn mouths the words to his boyfriend and grinned when he got 'I love you too' in return. 

•••

Three Months Later

Louis groaned at his friend as they looked at yet another necklace in Jody’s shop. “Come on man. Why does he need yet another necklace? We’ve been here for twenty minutes already.”

“Are you always this whiny and I’m just now noticing?” Zayn asked distractedly.

Louis rolled his eyes and tried to act offended, but failed miserably. “Yes, I am. Liam loves to tell me. Seriously, why is this so important?”

Zayn mumbled something under his breath and continued looking through the silver pendant necklaces. Louis groaned louder and sidestepped into Zayn’s view, forcing the slightly taller man to look at him. “Today marks six months since he came back.” Zayn whispered.

Louis’s expression softened and he moved out of the way. “Why the hell didn’t you just say so?”

“Because, it’s not that huge of a deal.”

“Yes it is! You’ve liked him for so long and you finally have him. It’s a big, big deal. We have to find a perfect necklace for him.” Louis exclaimed and started inspecting the necklaces on the table.

“Thanks, Lou. But no need. I found one.” Zayn said proudly and held up a silver chain with a little silver airplane at the end. Louis nodded and they stepped up to the register, handing Jody a ten dollar bill. They thanked her and stepped out into the chilly February air. 

“So I have a confession.” Louis sighed as he pulled his jacket tight around him and walked in step with his best friend.

Zayn looked at him curiously, but didn’t say anything, letting Louis take his time.

“The school has an opening. Kindergarten teacher, because Joelle is pregnant and wants to be a stay at home mom. I applied. And I got the job.” He paused. “It wouldn’t start until next school year. Joelle said she’ll finish this one because I wouldn’t have a chance to prepare or whatever, so it’ll give your mom a chance to find someone for Mama’s and look, I know that we said we would stay together but-” Zayn cut off his snowballing words.

“But nothing Louis! You’ve always wanted to work with kids and you literally haven’t put your degree to any good use and that’s no good. My mom will be fine. None of us could just work at Mama’s for our entire lives. I’m proud of you, Lou!” He said dragging his friend into a tight hug. 

“Yea? Are you sure?”

“Would it make a difference if I told you not to take the job?” Zayn chuckled. 

“Not really.” Louis giggled and shook his head. 

“Maybe it’s time we all found a new normal..” Zayn wondered aloud.

•••

“Boys, I’m having a quarter life crisis!” Niall announced as he slammed Zayn and Harry’s apartment door shut. He walked into the living room to see Louis curled around his boyfriend’s lean frame on the couch, meanwhile Zayn sat on the armchair in the corner. Harry was just walking in from the kitchen, three bags of popcorn in his hands.

“What is he going on about?” Harry asked as he sat in between Zayn’s legs on the carpeted floors.

“No idea. Popcorn?” Louis asked excitedly with wide eyes. Harry tossed him one of the bags and left the third on the coffee table for Niall.

“Something about a quarter life crisis.” Zayn shrugged and munched on his and Harry’s own food.

“Hold up, it's a couple's night. Where’s Hailee?” Liam asked with a raise of his eyebrows. 

“If you all would shut up and listen!” Niall shouted and paced the room. “I think I want to propose.” 

Louis shot up on the couch and stared at the fake blonde. “As in like ‘till death do us part’ marriage proposal?”

“Yea that! Hence, quarter life crisis!”

Zayn chuckled quietly. “I hardly think that’s a reason to have a quarter life crisis. You’ve been together for two years. Plus, you’re barely even twenty two. You’ve still got three years until you hit quarter life.”

Niall scoffed light-heartedly and turned his attention on his shoes. “Did you get a ring?” Harry asked softly, hoping to get Niall to smile. Niall nodded and dug in his pocket until he produced a light grey velvet box. He tossed it gently to the curly headed one. He opened it slowly to reveal a silver band with a round diamond in the middle and a row of smaller diamonds on either side. Harry, naturally being the sentimental one, gasped and leaned back. “Niall! It’s so pretty! You picked it?”

Niall smiled sheepishly. “She had seen something like it on an Instagram ad and saved it, so I kind of had an idea of what to get.” He shrugged loosely. “So are you gonna help me or not?” 

Around him, the other four nodded and immediately launched into plans.

•••

“Niall, are you ever gonna tell me where we’re going?” Hailee laughed as she was dragged down the street at ten o’clock at night.. 

“Maybe.” Niall chuckled nervously and bounced on his feet as they finally rounded the corner onto Center and stopped in front of the cafe. 

“What are we doing at the cafe? Did Louis forget to count the cash register again? You know, you guys should really get on him about that.” 

Niall laughed and unlocked the front door, pulling Hailee with him. She looked around curiously as they continued walking past the register and to the back staircase. 

“Ni, what are we doing??”

“I may have a surprise for you on the roof.” He whispered conspiratorially and pushed the door opening, revealing the pretty white glow of the lights hanging across the poles. In the middle stood a pretty white table with gorgeous flowers in the middle, a bottle of champagne and covered plates of food. 

“Aww, Ni. What is this?” Hailee smiled and twirled around the roof. Niall silently thanked Harry for going shopping with Hailee earlier in the day and encouraging her to wear the new black skirt and her favorite gray sweater to show Niall.

“I just wanted to do something nice for you. And you deserve a nice dinner that we don’t order in or have to cook.”

She leaned on her toes and kissed him softly. “Thank you.” She smiled and sat down when Niall pulled out her chair for her. They talked quietly and ate the baked chicken Louis and Zayn had prepared earlier in the day, enjoying the calmness on the roof.

Niall reached for Hailee’s hand, pulling her to her feet and pressed play on his phone, making the speakers Liam brought up come alive. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer moving slowly to the sound of Fleetwood Mac. Hailee tucked her face into the crook of Niall’s shoulder and sighed.

“What are we doing up here Ni?”

“I told you, I wanted to have a nice dinner.” He replied with a nervous chuckle. 

She pulled back and looked up at him, smiling. “Harry took me shopping today, I know for a fact that is Liam’s stereo system because he had it shipped to our apartment, and I also know Zayn and Louis made that food because Harry, Liam and you can’t be trusted in the kitchen to save anyone’s lives. Now, tell me. Is something up?”

Niall chuckled, more sure of himself now. “You seem to always read right through my bullshit, huh? I was hoping to do this a little more on my terms, but that’s why I love you. You push me. To be better, to work harder, go farther. And I want that. For the rest of our lives, and even beyond. And so,” He trailed off, pulling away, just enough to be able to reach into his pocket and pull the ring out, presenting it to her as he got down on one knee, smiling brightly. “Hailee, will you marry me?”

She nodded furiously, pulling him up and kissed him soundly on the lips, not even bothering with the ring.

“So I take that as a yes?”

“It’s a hell yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I meant for this to be a one shot, but I figured why not make it into at least a few chapters. So if you like it please let me know! And if you have suggestions, feel free to share them! I'm all for constructive criticism!


End file.
